naDNvsor 


Viola  da  Gamba. 


THE  STORY  OF  THE 
ART  OF  MUSIC 


BY 


FREDERICK   J.  CROWEST 

AUTHOR   OF 
THE   GREAT  TONE   POETS 


ILLUSTRATED 


44889 

NEW  YORK 
MCMXII 


4 


Copyright,  1902 
Bv  D.   APPLETON   AND  COMPANY 

All  rights  reserved 


r 


PREFACE 


Music  has  been  styled  the  "  youngest,  but 
greatest  of  the  Arts."  My  experience  tells  me 
that  it  is  the  oldest  and  grandest  of  all  arts.  To 
tell  the  story  then,  in  one  small  volume,  of  a  sub- 
ject which  dates  from  Creation,  is  no  easy  matter, 
it  would  seem. 

My  plan  has  been  to  be  as  concise  as  possible; 
to  keep  the  running  note  of  theoretical  and  in- 
strumental progress  and  development  before  the 
reader;  also  to  be  non-technical  where  plain  lan- 
guage would  answer.  Mention  has  been  made 
only  of  composers  and  matters,  who  and  which 
have  actually  moved  the  art  onwards ;  and,  inas- 
much as  one  topic  alone  of  the  subject — say  Form 
or  Orchestration,  could  not  possibly  be  adequate- 
ly treated  in  the  space  allotted  for  my  entire  story, 
I  must  be  pardoned  if  I  have  seemed  to  slip  away 
from  important  points.  The  difificulty  has  been 
to  get  away. 

The  little  volume  is  intended,  not  for  erudite 
musicians,  but  for  the  great  general  reading  public, 

5 


6  THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 

who  may  care  to  know  how  the  beautiful  art  of 
Music  has  grown  a'-ound  us  ;  and  all  I  profess  to 
have  done  is  to  show  the  step  by  step  growth  of 
the  art  in  the  various  countries  concerned  with 
Music's  foundation  and  development  up  to  to-day. 
I  have  purposely  avoided  detailed  reference  to 
living  composers  of  every  school — save  perhaps 
the  Russian ;  because,  in  my  opinion,  the  last 
word  in  Music  worth  hearing  has  been  spoken  for 
many  a  long  period — and  this  by  the  masters 
dealt  with  in  my  very  small  space. 

Frederick  J.  Crowest. 

24  Ampthill  Square, 
London,  N.  W. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  Introductory 9 

II.  Notation,   Sol-fa,   Mensural,   British  and 

Saxon  Music 28 

III.  Early    Harmony  —  Folk    Songs  —  Trouba- 

DOURS  and  First  Counterpoint  ...      40 

IV.  Fourteenth  Century  Music — Rise  of  Opera 

and     Oratorio  —  The      Organ  —  Early 

Schools  of  Music 52 

V.  The    Madrigal  —  Roman    and    Protestant 
Church   Music — Opera   and   the    Over- 
ture  67 

VI.  Passion    Music  —  Bach    and    Handel — Per- 
fected Oratorio 87 

VII.  Symphony — Haydn,  Mozart  and  Beethoven 

— Romantic  Art  in  Opera  and  Symphony    104 

VIII.  Growth  of  Form  and  Orchestration  ,        .     132 

IX.  Possible  English  School         ....     153 

X.  Opera — Gluck  to  Verdi 161 

XI.  Modern  German  and  Russian  Music    .       .    171 

7 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGB 

Viola  da  Gamba Frontispiece 

Angular  Kgyptian  Harp 14 

Angular  ligyptjan  Harp,  another  Pattern        ...  14 

Small  Kgyptian  Harps .  15 

Egyptian  tircai  Harp 17 

Early  Kgyptian  Harp  on  Stand 17 

Kinnor  or  Cinnor  (Harp) 18 

Hasur — the  Hebraic  Cithar 19 

Psaltery 20 

Cymbals 22 

Assyrian  Cymbals 23 

Ncumc  Notations 30 

Ancient  Idea  of  an  Organ •36 

Primitive  Organ        .          .          .         .          ....  37 

Perfonner  on  a  Three-Stringed  Crout  or  Rotte         .         .  44 

Performer  on  a  Circular  Psaltery  of  Twelfth  Century      ,  51 

Ancient  Knglish  Church  Organ 56 

Mcnestrel  Harp  of  the  Fifteenth  Century         ...  65 

Spinet 73 

Virginal 78 

Virginal  on  Supports         .......  80 

f  ierman  Organ  Bellows  of  the  Sixteenth  Century    .         .  89 

Clavichord  or  Clarichord 94 

Orchestral  Drums     ." ro2 

Trombone 105 

Ophicleide ,         ,  io3 

B.i-sioon    .         .         .         .         .         ,         .         ,         ,         .112 

Clarionet I14 

Trumpet  .....,.,,,  118 

Slide  Trumpet 122 

Saxophone 124 

Oboe 127 

IJandel's  Organ 158 

3 


THE   STORY   OF 
THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 


CHAPTER   I 

INTRODUCTORY 

Who  invented  Music  ?  This  question  has  been 
asked  by  people  of  many  ages,  and  a  conclusive 
answer  is  still  wanting.  It  is  an  interrogation 
that  will  be  raised  probably  as  long  as  music  lasts 
— since  the  problem  is  one  admitting  of  no  solu- 
tion. The  birth  of  music  is  wrapped  in  mystery, 
and  it  is  as  well  it  should  be  so ;  for  no  one  mind, 
however  expansive,  ought  to  be  saddled  with  the 
responsibility  of  inventing  a  matter  so  weighty 
and  so  inimitably  unbounded  as  is  music.  We 
might  as  well  ask  *'  Who  invented  the  Atmos- 
phere?" or  " Who  invented  Heat?"  All  sound 
is  music,  i.e.  music  is  made  up  of  sound,  and  the 
more  regulated  and  chastely  garnered  the  sound 
the  better  is  the  music. 

Music's  origin  must  be  looked  for  in  natural 
causes.  The  elements  of  all  music  exist  around 
us  in  the  sighing  of  leaves,  the  song  of  birds,  and 
the  gentle  monotone  of  bees,  not  less  than  in  the 
roar  of  monster  ocean  or  the  impressive  tones  of 
mighty  thunder.  The  bent  of  man's  mind  in  all 
ages  has  been  to  imitate  this  voice  of  Nature; 

9 


lO  THE   STORY    OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 

and  in  this  way  music  had  its  origin,  ages  and 
ages  ago. 

Whether  sound  existed  at  that  remote  time 
when  "darkness  was  upon  the  face  of  the  deep 
and  the  Spirit  of  God  moved  upon  the  face  of  the 
waters  "  will  never  be  known  ;  but  that  it  came 
with  the  creation  of  the  firmament  and  the  gather- 
ing together  of  the  waters  is  obvious.  Whoever 
it  was  who  first  conceived  the  idea  of  controlling 
and  using  or  imitating  this  raw  sound  for  pur- 
poses of  harmonious  gratification  -deserves  to  be 
styled  the  inventor  or  "father"  of  music;  but, 
although  many  enquirers  have  set  themselves  the 
task  of  tracing  the  art  to  its  fountain  source,  and 
thereby  elucidating  a  profound  secret,  none  have 
yet  gone  far  enough  to  be  successful.  The  best 
among  the  theories  which  have  been  propounded 
as  to  its  origin  are  nothing  more  than  conjecture. 
Much  as  we  should  all  like  to  know  positively 
who  invented  music,  it  is  unimportant  whether  it 
is  to  Mercury,  Orpheus,  Terpander  or  any  other 
mythical,  or  unmythical,  being  that  the  honour 
belongs.  Nor  can  it  be  seriously  contended  that 
much  value  attaches  to  antediluvian  music — that 
unknown  art  quantity  which  began  with  Jubal — 
"  the  father  of  all  such  as  handle  the  harp  and 
organ," — and  ended  with  the  Deluge,  a.  m.  1656 
or  234S  B.  c. 

We  must  start,  then,  with  the  assumption  that 
this  art  of  music — one  exercising  a  stronger  in- 
fluence over  humanity  than  any  other — dates  its 
origin  from  the  dawn  of  Nature.  Music  has  been 
and  is  styled  the  "youngest  but  greatest  of  the 
arts,"  notwithstanding  the  fact  that,  historically 
speaking,  it  is  really  the  oldest.  What  is  sing- 
ing  ?     It  is  no  more,  it  could  be  contended,  than 


INTRODUCTORY  H 

beautiful  speaking,  and  our  earliest  progenitors 
possessed  this  gift  in  that  happiest  of  times  when 
"the  morning  stars  sang  together." 

Though  \^e  cannot  elucidate  the  problem  of 
the  origin  of  music,  much  interest  centres  round 
several  surmises,  furnishing  us,  as  they  do,  with 
the  first  principles  of  several  of  our  modern  or- 
chestral methods  and  systems.  Take  the  "  shell  " 
story.  According  to  the  Hymn  to  Hermes — at 
one  time  attributed  to  Homer — the  god,  soon 
after  his  birth,  found  a  mountain  tortoise  grazing 
near  his  grotto  on  Mount  Kyllene.  He  disem- 
bowelled it,  took  its  shell,  and  out  of  the  back  of 
the  shell  he  formed  the  lyre.  He  cut  two  stalks 
of  reed  of  equal  length,  and,  boring  the  shell,  he 
employed  them  as  arms  or  sides  (tt-^x^l's)  to  the 
lyre.  He  stretched  the  skin  of  an  ox  over  the 
shell,  it  was  perhaps  the  inner  skin,  to  cover  the 
open  part,  and  thus  gave  it  a  sort  of  leather  or 
parchment  front.  Then  he  tied  cross-bars  of 
reed  to  the  arms,  and  attached  seven  strings  of 
sheep-gut  to  the  cross-bars.  After  that  he  tried 
the  strings  with  a  plectrum.*  Here  is  the  first 
suggestion  of  our  family  of  stringed  instruments, 
also  the  primitive  model  of  such  instruments  as 
the  harp,  dulcimer,  lute,  and  even  the  spinet, 
harpsichord  and  concert  grand  pianoforte.  Who- 
ever blew  the  first  reed,  too,  was  unconsciously 
supplying  us  with  the  principle  upon  which  the 
"king  of  instruments"  does  its  work  to-day. 
Pipes,  many  or  few,  large  and  small,  are  in  direct 
communication  with  a  wind-chest,  generally  un- 
der the  pipes,  and  we  get  an  organ  ;  whereas,  in 
the  case  of  the  first  pipe  blown  by  an  individual, 

*  Chappell's  "  History  of  Music,"  p.  29. 


12  THE    STORY   OF   THE   ART    OF    V.USIC 

the  wind  was  behind  it.  The  same  reasoning 
would  hold  good  in  the  case  of  that  fortunate,  or 
unfortunate,  being  who  first  put  his  lips  to  a 
beast's  horn  and  produced  a  sound.  He,  it  may 
truly  be  said,  was  the  father  of  all  such  as  play 
the  cornet,  ophicleide,  or  horn  in  this  twentieth 
century. 

Apart  from  wind  and  string  instruments  there 
is  yet  another  family — instruments  of  percussion. 
This  variety  is  distinctly  more  remote  and  further 
removed  from  us  in  its  origin  than  is  the  family 
which  sprang  from  Mercury's  reputed  shell.  The 
man  who  struck  the  first  blow  that  produced  an 
echo  (even  if  this  happened  to  be  from  the  weapon 
with  which  Cain  smote  Abel)  was  the  inventor  of 
the  first  stage  in  the  development  of  instrumental 
music — viz.,  the  drum  stage — the  first  type  of 
three  distinct  epochs  of  development  through 
which  prehistoric  instrumental  music  passed.  All 
musical  authorities  are  agreed  upon  this  point, 
and  one  of  the  most  trustworthy  says,  *'  never  in 
the  musical  history  of  mankind  is  the  lyre  stage 
found  to  precede  the  pipe  stage,  nor  the  pipe 
stage  to  precede  the  drum  stage.  That  this 
should  be  the  order  of  development  seems  natural 
if  we  consider  the  mechanical  complexity  of  the 
instruments  themselves.  The  drum  is  evidently 
the  simplest  of  all  ;  the  pipe  is  more  complex 
than  the  drum;  but  the  lyre,  which  consists  of 
strings  bound  round  pegs  and  strung  on  a  frame, 
is  the  most  complex  of  all."*  If  further  proof 
were  needed,  we  have  only  to  turn  to  savages. 
Their  first  idea  of  music  is  a  drum.  The  pipe 
and  lyre  come  afterwards,  and  if  they  secure  one 


*  "  History  of  Music  "  (J.  F.  Rowbotham),  p.  2. 


INTRODUCTORY  13 

or  both  of  the  latter,  the  drum  is  never  absent. 
To  this  extent,  therefore,  the  origin  of  music  in 
its  bearings  upon  modern  systems  is  interesting. 

Melody  naturally  had  its  origin  at  this  point ; 
for  even  if  the  first  pipe-blower  lacked  the  inge- 
nuity to  make  finger-holes  in  his  primitive  flute 
or  fife,  the  user  of  the  plectrum  upon  the  shell's 
string  would  obtain  varying  notes  as  he  plucked 
his  gut  at  different  points.  The  earliest /^har- 
mony, too,  was  not  far  off.  Directly  it  entered 
men's  or  women's  heads  to  bind  three  or^our 
reeds  together,  combinations  of  sound  became 
possible,  on  the  part  of  one  player  or  many. 
What  such  earliest  melody  or  harmony  was  like, 
or  worth,  is  another  matter. 

Five  great  nations  stand  out  in  the  history  of 
ancient  music.  They  are  the  Egyptians,  He- 
brews, Assyrians,  Greeks,  and  Romans.  Each  of 
these  held  music  in  more  or  less  esteem,  and 
turned  it  to  account  in  numerous  ways  and  in 
several  phases  of  their  social,  political,  and  re- 
ligious life. 

Egypt  was  the  colony  chosen  by  Noah  and 
some  of  the  descendants  of  Ham  after  the  Flood. 
Noah,  acquainted  as  he  was,  with  the  antediluvian 
arts  and  sciences — whatever  these  were — would 
have  carried  this  knowledge  into  Egypt,  with  the 
laudable  object  of  handing  it  down  at  least  to  his 
own  family  and  dependents,  as  these  prospered  in 
the  adopted  country.  Many  writers  identify 
Osiris  with  Noah  which,  if  correct,  shows  that  the 
patriarch  was  highly  esteemed,  for  in  later  dy- 
nasties Osiris  was  one  of  the  gods  which  these 
polytheists  worshipped.  In  what  state  Noah 
found  music  in   Egypt  has  not  transpired:  but 


14 


THE   STOKY   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 


Angular  Epr\ptian  Harp. 


the  oldest  records  point  to  the  liberal  use  of  the 
art    by    this   great   and   highly   civilized    nation. 
Moreover,  the  hieroglyphics 
and     representations     upon 
their  tombs  and  slabs  con- 
firm this,  even  if  there  were 
not   such    writers  as   Plato, 
Herodotus,      Strabo,       and 
other     authors    of     ancient 
(ireece,  throwing  light  upon 
the   subject   and   informing 
us    as    to    the    extent    and 
quality  of  musical   practice 
among    the    Egyptians — es- 
pecially   in    their    religious 
ceremonies,    festivals,    pro- 
cessions, etc. 
Herodotus  tells  us    that   the   Egyptians  dis- 
puted with  the  Phrygians  respecting  the  first  use 
of  music,  and,  from  the  evidence  that 
has  been  forthcoming,  it  would  seem 
easy    to   award    the    honour    to    the 
Egyptians.      Anyone     entering     the 
land  of  the  Pyramids  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  nineteenth  dynasty — i.e. 
some   2000    r.c. — would   have  found 
the    country    in    full    plenitude    and 
prosperity  under  the  sceptre  of  Ra- 
meses  H.     The  workers  toiled  by  day 
and   amusements  were    left    for    the  Angiaiar  Egyp- 
evening.     Then  the  wealthy  and  all      •^'^",   ^^^: 

.  ,  ,      f,      J   •     •      1    ,        ,    ■  another  pat- 

who  could  afford  it  indulged  in  mu-      tern. 
sic.      We    can    picture   a   brilliantly 
lighted  hall,  full  of  guests  and  attendant  slaves. 
At  the  far  end  of  the  apartment  is  a  band  of  men 
and  women  playing  upon  many  instruments,  while 


INTRODUCTORY  15 

the  host  and  guests  are  eating  and  talking.  All 
the  musicians  are  slaves,  and  before  each  piece 
they  play  do  obeisance  to  the  master  of  the  house. 
So  long  ago,  therefore,  as  this  remote  age  the 
musician  and  his  art  were  without  dignity — a 
state  of  things  which  thousands  of  years  have 
scarcely  remedied.  These  slave-musicians'  occu- 
pation was  to  attend  the  banquets  of  the  great, 


Small  Eg^'ptian  Harps. 

and  play  and  sing  for  the  amusement  of  the  com- 
pany. "We  find  them  constantly  represented  in 
the  sculptures,  in  groups  of  from  two  to  eight 
persons — some  women  and  some  men — playing 
on  various  instruments  as  the  harp,  pipe,  flute ; 
the  harp,  lyre,  lute;  double  pipe,  tambourine; 
the  harp,  double  pipe,  lute  and  flute  (apparently 
the  favourite  collocation) ;  the  harp,  double  pipe, 
lute,  lyre  and  tambourine,  and  other  similar  col- 
lations." * 

In  the  meridian  of  their  splendour  and  great- 

*  *'  History  of  Music  "  (Rowbotham),  p.  84. 
2 


l6  Till-:    STOKV    U1--    THE    art    UF    MfSIC 

ness,  music  was  certainly  used  largely  by  the 
Egyptians.  At  some  periods  of  the  country's 
history  it  was  in  a  much  higher  degree  of  culti- 
vation than  at  others.  That  practised  before  the 
subjection  by  the  Persians  was,  for  instance,  of 
a  much  higher  order  than  music  under  the  Ptole- 
mies and  until  the  death  of  Cleopatra.  The 
priests  largely  appropriated  the  art  to  themselves, 
using  it  for  religious  and  important  state  func- 
tions. Gradually  it  became  disseminated  among 
the  people,  though  laws  restricted  to  their  use  a 
number  of  melodies. 

Of  the  several  instruments  possessed  by  the 
Egyptians,  the  harp  was  pre-eminent — serving  as 
it  did  as  the  foundation  of  the  Egyptian  orchestra. 
There  were  great  harps  and  small  harps.  The 
compass  of  the  former  was 


— r- 

while  the  latter  covered 


A 


I 


As  the  compass  of  the  pipe  extended  from 


the  grand  reach  of  the  orchestra  of  this  great 
people  was  one  of  four  octaves  and  a  half — more 
than  a  half  of  the  full  orchestra  of  to-day.  These 
facts  furnish  us  with  an  important  clue,  m'z.,  that 
the  Egyptian  musical  system  comprised  both 
melody  and  harmony.     Even  the  barbarian  will 


INTRODUCTORY 


17 


make  a  species  of  harmony  for  himself,  just  as 
children  sing  what  they  call  "  seconds  "  intuitively, 
and  remembering  that  a 
full  Egyptian  orchestra 
consisted  of  harps  (20), 
flutes  (8),  lyres(6), double 
pipes  (7),  flutes  (6),  pipes 
(i  or  2),  and  tambourines 
(2  or  3),  it  would  be  ab- 
surd to  suppose  that  this 
combination  persistently 
worked  in  unison.  The 
harmony  of  the  land  of 
the  Pharaohs,  however, 
was  not  harmony  as  we 
appreciate  it  to-day.  It 
was  purely  diatonic  — 
modulation  being  quite 
unknown.  Everything 
was  played  from  begin- 
ning to  end  in  one  key — 
and  should  have  proved 
extremely  monotonous  to 
executants  and  listeners 
alike. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  Egyptian  orches- 
tra possessed  no  instru- 
ments of  percussion, 
and  as  there  was  a  con- 
stant presence  of  con- 
ductors, we  may  con- 
clude it  was  not  of  a 
highly  rhythmic  order. 
It  was  probably  a  spe- 
cies   of     art    of     long 

phrases       and      weak      Early  Egyptian  Harp  on  Stand. 


Egyptian  Great  Harp. 


stringed  instrument 
mentioned  in  the  Pen- 
tateuch. 


1 8  THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF    MUSIC 

rhythms— music  that  modern  ears  would  scarcely 
comprehend,  given  off  from  big  vocal  and  orches- 
tral bodies,  and  needmg  not 
one,  but  many  conductors  to 
keep  together.  Batons  were 
not  used,  and  time  was  kept 
by  the  clapping  of  hands.  An 
idea  of  the  extent  of  these  or- 
chestras may  be  gained  from 

__^    the  description  of  a   Baccha- 

Kinnor  or  Cinnor  "^lian  festival,  given  by  Ptole- 
("  Harp").  The  only  my  Philadclphus,  when  more 
„.        I    .„„.  »    than    six    hundred    musicians 

were  employed  in  the  chorus, 
together  with  three  hundred 
performers  upon  the  cithara,  i.e.  the  A  shaped 
harp. 

The  origin  of  Hebrew  or  ancient  music  is 
wrapped  in  obscurity ;  but  the  art  so  often  re- 
ferred to  in  the  Bible  was  borrowed,  probably,  by 
Moses  and  his  people  from  the  Egyptians.  Any 
country's  music  is  appreciably  influenced  by 
national  intercourse  and  the  long  stay  of  the 
Israelites  in  Egypt  must  have  affected  them 
musically.  Unlike  that  of  the  Egyptians,  Hebrew 
music  was  strangely  harsh.  Their  instruments, 
the  harp,  flute,  tabret,  buggab,  timbrel,  cymbal, 
pipe,  psaltery,  and  shawm,  chiefly  wind  and  per- 
cussion instruments,  meant  noise,  with  piercing 
and  deafening  effects.  Unsettled,  offensive,  war- 
like "dwellers  in  tents"  as  the  Hebrews  were, 
this  rough  musical  element  and  character  were 
unavoidable. 

This  coarseness  did  not  extend  to  the  Temple 
Services,  which  were  magnificent  and  as  far  as 


INTRODUCTORY 


19 


possible  beautiful.  The  antiphonal  mode  of 
singing  was  practised  and  marked  musical  effects 
were  gained  by  the  alternate  employment  of  male 
and  female  voices — soli  and  chorus.  A  tribe 
was  set  apart  for  musicians,  so  that  David  could 
appoint  "  four  thousand  Levites  to  praise  the 
Lord  with  instruments " ;  and  upon  another 
occasion  ordain  "  two  hundred  four  score  and 
eight  who  were  cunning  in  song."  As  the  Bible 
tells  us,  the  Hebrews  were  great  in  vocal  art; 
names  of  such  vocalists  as  Miriam,  Deborah, 
Judith,  and  the  daughters  of  Heman,  can  never  be 
obliterated;  nor,  probably,  will  those  picturesque 
circumstances  which  drew 
forth  that  tender  denial  of 
"  How  shall  we  sing  the 
Lord's  song  in  a  strange 
land  "  ever  be  forgotten. 

While  the  Hebrews 
used  their  music  in  wor- 
ship, war  and  socially,  lit- 
tle or  none  of  it  has  been 
preserved.  They  had  no 
notation  —  their  religious 
melodies  being  traditional 
— but  the  tones  for  chant- 
ing the  Bible  in  imitation 

of  the  reception  of  the  law  on  Mount  Sinai  are 
on  record.  They  can  hardly  reflect,  however,  the 
quality  of  the  national  song ;  or,  why  that  studied 
request — "  Sing  us  one  of  the  songs  of  Zion  ?" 

Modern  music  has  benefitted  little  from  He- 
brew art.  Neither  the  trumpet  of  Jubilee,  buc- 
cina,  organ,  nablum,  pipe  (the  latter  used  chiefly 
at  funerals  when  a  female  performer  always  led 
the  cortege),  or  cinnos  have  any  important  bear- 


Hasur — the  Hebraic  Cithar. 


THE   STORY   OF  THE   ART   OF    MUSIC 


ing  on  present  day  instrumentation.  Asaph,  David, 
Solomon,  Heman,  and  Jeduthun  were  Hebrew 
music  leaders  whose  names  have  come  down  to 
us,  but  no  one  of  them  elabo- 
rated a  system  of  music.  That 
the  Hebrews  were  naturally  a 
musical  people  there  is  no  doubt; 
their  national,  internal  condi- 
tions, however,  were  wholly  un- 
favourable to  the  work  of  fos- 
tering a  constructive  art.  Their 
neighbours  were  a  Semitic  race 
on  the  borders  of  the  Tigris  and 
Euphrates,  and  it  was  their  art, 
tinctured  with  Egyptian  influ- 
ences, which  made  up  the  He- 
brew monarchy  music  up  to  the  time  of  the  first 
Temple.  Subsequently  Hebrew  music  was  mod- 
ified by  the  Babylonish  captivity  and  other  dis- 
turbing influences.  Everything  has  happened  to 
wipe  ancient  Hebrew  musical  art  off  the  face  of 
the  earth. 


Psaltery  (i/zoA/uds) 
Psalm  Ixxxi.  2, 


It  is  uncertain  how  far  Assyrian  music  was 
formed  from  something  musical  borrowed  from 
other  nations ;  but  that  music  was  used  liberally 
by  this  ancient  people  is  certain.  Many  slabs  and 
bas-reliefs  shewing  representations  of  musical  per- 
formances at  banquets,  religious  ceremonies,  also 
on  the  triumphal  return  of  victors  from  the  battle- 
field and  the  chase,  testify  to  this. 

It  was  essentially  martial  music — a  phalanx  of 
tone  suggestive  of  our  present  day  application  of 
music  in  large  forces.  Quality  gave  way  to  quan- 
tity, as  the  stone  records  familiar  to  visitors  of 
national  museums  shew.     Solo  effects  were  prac- 


INTRODUCTORY  21 

tically  ignored  in  favour  of  orchestral  masses  of 
sound  from  such  instruments  as  the  harp,  lyre, 
asor,  dulcimer,  pipe,  tamboura,  drums,  bells  and 
cymbals.  The  military  dominated  music,  and  it 
is  from  the  Assyrians  that  we  get  the  first  definite 
example  of  the  employment  of  music  as  an  adjunct 
in  war.  All  Assyrian  instruments  were  portable — 
strapped  to  the  body  or  carried — the  harps  all  so 
small  that  they  could  be  held  in  the  hand,  the 
dulcimers  strapped  to  the  shoulders  and  the  drums 
strapped  to  the  chest  as  are  our  military  drums 
to-day;  and,  to  conclude,  the  method  of  beating 
time  in  the  concerts  was  not  by  clapping  the  hands 
as' with  the  Egyptians,  but  by  stamping  w'ith  the 
foot  as  if  they  had  learnt  their  time  from  soldiers 
marching.*  Thus  the  performer  could  play  on 
the  harp  or  lyre  whilst  walking  or  standing  ;  and 
as  most  instruments  were  of  percussion  character, 
i.e.  struck  or  plucked,  the  character  of  the  music 
was  far  from  refined. 

These  people  had  a  peculiar  liking  for  high- 
pitched,  shrill  music.  Indeed,  this  was  the  dis- 
tinguishing character  of  Assyrian  music.  Every- 
thing was  treble  or  a  little  below  it — lyres,  lutes, 
dulcimers,  single  pipes,  flutes,  small  harps,  trum- 
pets, boys — and  even  the  high  voices  of  eunuchs. 
There  is  no  evidence  that  the  science  of  Voice- 
production,  even  as  an  idea,  had  occurred  to 
them,  but  the  representations  of  women  pinching 
their  throats  in  order  to  force  the  high  notes,  in- 
dicate how  this  people  sought  after  a  shrill,  high 
tone  quality  of  music;  also  that  they  wished  to 
bring  about  some  physiological  change  in  the 
voice  which  they  knew  little  about.     Nowadays, 

*  "  History  of  Music"  (Rowbotham)- 


22  THE   STORY   Ol    THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 

happily,  we  refuse  to  screw  up  the  throat  for  the 
production  of  high  notes,  getting  them  by  an 
*^  '  exactly      opposite 

method  —  that  of 
a  deep  production 
with  a  full  drawn 
breath  packed  well 
under  the  clavicle. 
It  was  to  qualify 
and  moderate  this 
preponderating 
treble,  probably, 
that  they  adopted 
drums  and  cym- 
bals, which  would 
modify  the  music's 
character  —  as  we 
to  -  day  (on  the 
principle  of  oil 
neutralizing  vine- 
gar), associate  the 
drum  with  the  fife. 
All  music  needs  a 
foundation,  and  evidently  this  fact  occurred  to 
the  Assyrians. 

Harmony  cannot  be  traced  to  the  Assyrians — 
airs  in  octaves  with  instruments  or  voices  accom- 
panying in  fourths  and  fifths  contented  them — 
and  the  higher  and  shriller  all  this  could  be,  the 
better.  The  favourite  instrument  was  the  dulci- 
mer— of  which  they  had  two  kinds,  the  horizontal 
and  vertical.  These  were  undoubtedly  the  parents 
of  our  modern  "grand"  and  "cottage"  piano- 
fortes and  are  worth  examining  on  Assyrian  bas- 
reliefs,  where  they  will  be  found  in  the  proportion 
of  two  to  one  of  other  instruments.     Modern  art, 


Cymbals  (Ku/t^oAov).    Assyrian  playing 
the  conical-shaped  cymbals. 


I 


INTRODUCTORY  23 

then,  is  indebted  to  the  Assyrians  for  two  of  its 
prominent  musical  features — the  massed  military 
band  and  the  leading,  long-suffering,  domestic 
musical  instrument  the  pianoforte. 

The  Greeks  made  of  music,  philosophy.  Noth- 
ing great  was  expected  of  men  ignorant  of  music  ; 
women  practised  it  assiduously — even  playing  the 
flute  as  did  Lamia  ;   children  began  their  educa- 


Assyrian  Cymbals.     Found  in  the  Tomb  of  the 
Priest-Musician  Ankape. 

tion  with  it.  The  authors — Aristoxenus,  Euclid, 
Homer,  Plutarch  and  Xenophon  tell  us  how  this 
classic  race  reverenced  and  studied  music — not 
only  as  a  personal  accomplishment  but  as  a  duty 


24  THE    STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF    MUSIC 

towards  themselves  and  their  country.  Harmon, 
ics — the  science  and  theory  of  sounds — was  the 
sole  musical  gospel,  and  many  were  the  themes 
propounded  and  conclusions  gathered,  by  Pythag- 
oras and  many  another  Greek  mathematician. 

It  is  not  improbable  that  the  Greeks  borrowed 
their  musical  art  from  the  Egyptians.  Pythagoras 
[circa  B.C.  600)  organiser  of  the  Greek  musical 
system,  travelled  in  Egypt  and  presumably  gained 
there  that  insight  into  the  art  which  he  and  such 
theorists  as  Lasos  and  Terpander  set  out  to  the 
Greeks.  The  mathematical  precision  of  harmonics 
or  sound-pntsations  mostly  occupied  these  great 
minds.  Of  practical  Greek  musicians  several 
names  have  come  down  to  us.  Chief  among 
these  stands  Olympus  the  Phrygian  who  intro- 
duced the  art  of  flute-playing;  also  the  soldier- 
musician  Tyrtaeus  who  to  his  martial  qualifica- 
tions added  those  of  a  troubadour  or  minstrel. 

We  have  no  indisputable  evidence  of  what  the 
Greek  musical  system  was.  It  comprised  a  nota- 
tion which  was  most  complicated  by  reason  of 
its  auxiliary  marks  and  signs.  Though  we  meet 
with  the  terms  hartnonia  (dpfxovia)  and  sympJwnia 
{a-ufi(f)Oivia),  these  had  no  reference  to  combina- 
tions of  sounds  or  chords,  but  rather  to  the  tailing 
together  of  their  tetrachords — the  groups  of  four 
notes  which,  when  joined,  resolved  into  modes  or 
measures.  Of  these  there  were  several  varying  in 
character,  colour  and  sentiment ;  thus,  the  ^olian, 
Dorian,  Lydian,  Phrygian,  Mixo-Lydian,  and 
more.  The  extent  of  the  Greek  scale  did  not 
exceed  two  octaves,  but  the  musicians  divided 
intervals  into  a  smaller  portion  than  the  semi- 
tone and  thus  obtained  a  perfection  of  intona- 
tion   and  vocal    technique   to  which    the    normal, 


INTRODUCTORY  25 

modern  ear  must  be  held  to  be  insensible.  Their 
vocal  exercises  were  conducted  to  a  solfeggio  with 
the  following  vowels  : — tw,  to,  tt),  re,  ra,  tw,  ttj — 
an  excellent  plan  that  could  not  be  too  generally 
adopted  in  Voice-production  instruction  to-day, 
embodying,  as  it  does,  the  use  of  that  prime  tone- 
producing  dental — the  letter  "t."  Notes  and 
rests,  each  five  in  number,  of  varying  lengths, 
graces — the  prolepsis  or  slur,  the  procrusis,  kom- 
pismus  (or  "  saucy  "  *  grace),  and  inelismus,  a  sort 
of  connected-staccato,  all  helped  to  make  up  an 
exquisite  art  of  song  in  which  the  Greeks  ex- 
celled. In  addition  to  the  ordinary  "  times  "  of 
music  known  to  us,  the  Greeks  had  two  others, 
{^five  and  seven  time),  consisting  of  five  and  seven 
quavers  to  the  bar  respectively.  The  connecting 
link  between  the  ancient  Greek  scales  and  the 
modern  was  supplied  in  the  system  of  Hexa- 
chords.  This  was  a  six-note  series  of  scales. 
The  Greeks  repeated  their  tetrachords  from  one 
to  the  other  as  we  do  from  octave  to  octave.  So 
the  Hexachord  was  worked  upon  its  six  notes. 

Instruments  favoured  by  the  Greeks  were  the 
flute,  harp,  cithara,  lyre,  and  double  (one  mouth- 
piece) pipes,  the  latter  not  joined  but  held  loosely 
in  the  hands,  one  serving  for  the  melody,  the 
other  being  employed  as  a  delicate  accompani- 
ment thereto.  Among  eminent  instrumentalists 
stood  Epaminondas,  Antigenidas  who  taught  Al- 
cibiades,  and  Amaeboeus  the   harpist,  whose   fee 

*  KOfiirifffios,  kompismos :  Extract  from  Liddell  and 
Scott's  Lexicon,  "a  quavering  or  shaking  on  an  instrument: 
with  the  voice  it  was  called  fieXifffios  (melismos) :  both  to- 
gether, TtpTTiff/ios."  There  is  no  ground  for  the  meaning 
"saucy" — which  seems  to  arise  from  the  confusion  of  the 
word  with  a  derivative  from  KOfx-Kos,  a  noise,  loud  burst. 


26 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 


was  an  Attic  talent  for  each  of  his  performances. 
The  Greeks  had  many  uses  for  music — chieflv  at 
the  games  and  public  festivals.  It  was  more  or 
less   employed    too,   in   the   rendering  of  poems 


8 


4=v&. 


e  e 

dd 
c  c 

la 
sol 

la 
sol 
fa 

Bt 

/«(12) 

mi 

a 

la 

mi 

re  J 

S 

sol 

re 

Mi 

f 

fa 

ut 

e 

la 

mi 

a 

la 

sol 

re 

C 

sol 

fa 

ut 

I. 

A(2) 

mi 

A 

U 

mi 

re 

G 

sol 

re 

ut 

F 

/« 

ut 

E 

la 

tni 

D 

sot 

re 

C 

fa 

ut 

^ 

mi 

A 

re 

F 

ut 

(^  C         F         G         C         F         G 

Hexachords.     Mi  meant  everywhere  the  position  of  the  half-note. 

—the  singing  of  the  "  Iliad  "  and  "Odyssey"  by 
the  immortal  sightless  Homer  was  preceded  by  a 
sweep  of  the  four-stringed  lyre  as  a  sort  of  pre- 
lude, the  magnificent  periods  being  interspersed 
with  music. 

Until  recently  only  a  few  fragments  of  ancient 


INTRODUCTORY  27 

Greek  hymn  music — and  these  of  the  Roman 
period — were  in  existence.  Excavations  at  Delphi 
in  1893  and  later,  unearthed  other  fragments — 
notably  a  hymn  recording  the  prowess  of  Apollo. 
None  of  these  are  held  to  represent  ancient  Greek 
music  at  its  highest  excellence.  Modern  music, 
therefore,  is  only  indebted  to  the  Greeks  to  the 
extent  of  the  philosophy  and  deductions  of  the 
great  theorists. 

Roman  music  per  se  is  unimportant  as  a  factor 
in  modern  art  from  the  fact  that  there  was  no 
distinctive  art  born  of  this  aggressive,  conquering 
people.  When  the  Empire  was  at  its  zenith,  the 
music  of  every  ancient  nation  might  have  been 
heard  in  the  Capital.  The  Romans  gave  no 
serious  heed  to  the  art  until  they  conquered 
Greece,  when  Greek  music  experienced  quite  a 
renaissance  at  the  hands  and  mouths  of  Grecian 
slave-musicians.  It  was  only  for  pleasure  and 
amusement  as  an  accompaniment  to  the  spectacle 
however,  that  it,  the  best  of  pagan  art,  was  re- 
quired. War  and  conquest  were  the  first  consid- 
erations with  Romans,  then  intoxicating  pleasure, 
and  to  this  end  any  music  obtainable  was  wel- 
comed, though  for  social  and  private  use  the 
Greek  kind  was  preferred. 

Where  the  Greeks  had  splendid  tragedy,  the 
Romans  preferred  pantomime,  dance,  and  licen- 
tious song — forms  which,  in  themselves,  were 
inimical  to  much  nobility  in  musical  art.  The 
pantomimes  were  augmented  with  a  chorus  and 
band,  the  whole  forming  a  combination  of  stu- 
pendous scale — numerically  and  tonally.  Noise 
was  the  order  of  the  day  and  the  din  and  roar 
from  hundreds  of   flutes,  pipes,  gongs,  cymbals, 


28  THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 

rattles,  horns,  and   trumpets,  made   up   a  model 
Roman  orchestra. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  Chinese,  the  Indo- 
Chinese,  and  other  Mongoloids  practised  music 
far  back  in  prehistoric  times.  This  was  the  case 
in  Britain.  Long  before  the  Roman  invasion  the 
aboriginal  British  had  their  flint  whistles,  rude 
drums  and  pipes.  These  were  followed  by  horns 
of  brass  and  all  that  array  of  barbaric  musical 
usage  from  Prydain's  day  down  to  the  visit  of 
Julius  Cassar.  Pytheas,  the  Greek  navigator 
was  in  Britain  {circa  384-322  B.C.)  and  testified 
to  the  musical  tendency  of  the  natives.  The 
six-stringed  harp  of  Ireland,  the  cruit  and 
clairseach  are  probably  as  old  as  the  instru- 
ments of  ancient  oriental  races  if  their  true  date 
could  be  discovered. 


CHAPTER   II 

NOTATION,    SOL-FA,    MENSURAL,    BRITISH    AND 
SAXON    MUSIC 

Mankind  ever  needed  signs  to  record  its  inner 
mind — a  sort  of  sign-language  which  even  the 
modern  tramp  and  burglar  are  extending.  It 
soon  dawned  upon  it  that  music  required  some 
medium  of  expression — a  language  through  which 
it  could  be  spoken  and  understood.  Hence  the 
origin  of  Notation — not  only  for  singing  but  for 
writing  the  various  notes  of  the  scale. 

Old  as  the  art  and  practice  of  music  are,  three 
systems  of  notation  have  been  found  sufificient  to 


NOTATION  29 

express  all  that  has  been  said  through  the  art, 
viz.,  letters,  neumes,  and  notes.  Letters  were 
used  by  the  Greeks  and  Romans ;  then  came 
the  Pneume  or  Neume  period  and,  finally,  our 
present  system  of  Notes  obtained,  probably  for 
all  time;  since  no  improvement  upon  it  appears 
possible.  In  utilizing  the  letters  of  the  alphabet 
(and  to  the  ready  musician  notes  are  always  so 
called)  we  have  not  gone  far  beyond  the  ancient 
nations,  although  it  would  be  extremely  perplex- 
ing to  make  sense  of  a  Beethoven  symphony  if 
hundreds  of  alphabetical  characters  took  the 
places  of  the  notes.  In  very  early  times,  how- 
ever, when  melody  was  simple  and  harmony 
unknown,  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  to  indicate 
the  tones  of  the  natural  diatonic  scale  answered 
very  well. 

Boethius,  a  Roman,  in  the  fifth  century  wrote 
explanations  of  the  harmonic  theories  of  the 
ancient  Greeks,  and  was  probably  the  first  the- 
orist to  use  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  as  scale 
measurement  markers.  He  employs  the  letters 
A  to  P,  thus — 


-rr-^ 


ABCDEFGHI  KLMNOP 

The  Neume- Period  *  extended  from  the  eighth 
to  the  twelfth  century.  The  monks  of  mediaeval 
times  required  signs  for  indicating  the  rise  and 
fall  of  the  voice  in  church  music  particularly, 
and  adopted  neumes — a  series  of  scratchy  fig- 
ures, not  unlike  shorthand  characters,  and  pos- 

*  From  Greek  irviviM  =  breath. 


30  THE    STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 

sibly  of  Asiatic  origin  or,  perliaps,  a  reflectioa 
of  the  ancient  nota  Romana.  In  the  eleventh 
century  there  were  seven  of  these  symbols.  They 
had  grown  out  of  three  primitive  accents — the 
acute,  the  grave,  and  the  circumflex — the  first 
characters — outside  letters — that  had  been  used 
for  marking  movements  of  the  voice.     Obviously 

.•       .•        4^     J"     *-* 


if      V         •»# 

Neume  Notations. 

the  acute  accent  raised  the  voice,  the  grave  flat- 
tened or  lowered  it,  and  the  circumflex  indicated 
an  up  and  down  movement  much  at  the  discre- 
tion of  the  singer.  The  system  was  vague,  and 
as  indistinct  as  that  of  the  Greeks  with  its  Uncial 
letters  and  Minusculae — all  written  in  a  perplex- 
ing variety  of  positions. 

These  Neumes  placed  over  the  words  gave 
the  priests  a  clue  to  the  inflexions  and  modula- 
tions required  in  the  chanting  of  the  Gospel, 
Epistles,  Psalms,  etc.,  but  all  was  crude  and  un- 
determined. The  difficulty  of  fixing  a  tonic  or 
keynote  was  ever  present  and  it  was  this  want 
that,  later  on,  led  up  to  the  invention  of  the  stave 
or  staff  in  music.  At  about  the  year  900,  one 
red  line  was  introduced  into  Neume  notation. 
All  notes  written  upon  it  were  F's.  Those  above 
the  line  were  higher  and  those  below  lower. 
With  this  line  fixing  the  keynote  and  the  Neume 
characters  on,  above  and  below  it,  shewing  the 


NEUMES  31 

modulations  of  the  melody,  a  great  step  had 
been  secured.  If  music  at  this  time  had  been 
much  in  request  outside  the  Church,  this  red 
line  note  might  have  been  transposed  to  clefs  to 
suit  the  range  of  treble,  alto  or  tenor  voice.  As 
it  was,  one  clef  sufficed — mainly  for  the  priests 
and  monks. 

Withal — the  Neume  characters — the  Virgia 
(long  single  note) ;  pimctus  (shorter  note) ;  po- 
datus  (two  notes  of  which  the  second  was  the 
higher)  ;  clivis  or  flexa  (two  notes  of  which  the 
second  was  the  lower) ;  scandicus  (three  ascend- 
ing notes)  ;  climacus  (three  descending  notes),  and 
cephalicus  (three  notes,  of  which  the  second  was 
the  highest) — all  were  at  the  whim  and  mercy  of 
the  singer,  as  regarded  both  their  intonation  and 
length  of  duration.  In  course  of  time  other  lines 
were  incorporated.  An  early  specimen  of  Neume 
notation  shows  a  yellow  line  added  to  the  red, 
and  by  Guido  d'Arezzo's  time  the  Neumes  were 
distributed  between  four  coloured  lines.  Guido 
placed  C  upon  the  yellow  line,  thus  establishing 
the  C  clef. 

"-- 'Music  had  not  long  taken  root  in  Western 
Europe  ere  men  began  to  make  harmony — writ- 
ing down  the  same  as  far  as  their  limited  nota- 
tion would  allow.  With  the  Roman  and  other 
schools  for  singing  at  work,  it  became  easy 
enough  to  render  the  simple  melodies  of  the 
Gregorian  Tones — used  mainly  for  ecclesiastical 
chanting.  Children  could,  of  course,  sing  in  oc- 
taves with  their  elders,  but  eventually  additional 
parts  in  fourths  and  fifths  grew  upon  these  oc- 
taves, and  very  horrible  they  must  have  sounded. 

HuCBALD,  a  Flemish  monk  (840-930),  was  one 
of   the  first   to  write   this   primitive  harmony — a 

3 


-&~ 


32  THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 

fauxbourdo7i  or  organum.  The  idea  of  the  thing 
probably  arose  from  some  ingenious  monk  pro- 
posing to  sing  some  known  melody  while  another 
voice  kept  up  a  drone  on  one  note,  or  possibly 

^):  o    O-^^   i>    o    "   o   °=5^=Q^-u^^  o        r. 
"-rr-ai-^   o    o-6»  "    o    rr-rT-^f-^-rT-rj-cr 

^r_Q 0. 

o  o   "  o    <_>  o  ^^  i 

Specimen  of  Organum. 

alternating  notes,  either  above  or  below.  Here, 
then,  with  this  diaphony  was  the  first  step  in  that 
great  sphere  of  technical  musical  art — the  science 
of  Harmony.  It  was  the  addition  of  a  second 
part  to  am  existing  one — the  tenor  or  "subject," 
and  no  doubt  the  practice  of  this  species  of  har- 
mony lasted  through  several  generations.  Here 
was  the  first  step  in  the  opening  up  of  the  vast 
field  of  contrapuntal  science  and  possibility  in 
which  the  organ  and,  later,  British  organists  were 
destined  to  play  such  a  prominent  and  excellent 
part. 

That  music  was  to  prove  a  great  civilising, 
educating  factor  soon  became  apparent  to  edu- 
cated men  of  primitive  Christian  times.  As  early 
as  the  year  330  Pope  Sylvester  founded  a  school 
for  singing  at  Rome  ;  St.  Ambrose,  Archbishop  of 
Milan  {circa  374-397),  organised  a  fine  choir  in 
his  cathedral,  and  composed  hymns  and  chants 
based  upon  four  diatonic  scales  known  as  the 
"  Authentic  Modes " ;  St.  Chrysostom,  St.  Au- 
gustine, Pope  Gregory,  Pope  Vitalianus,  the  Em- 
peror Constantine,  then  Charlemagne— each  and 
all  encouraged  the  study  of  music. 


SOL-FA  33 

In  the  barbarous  and  untutored  state  that 
people  were  in  generally,  the  Church  became  the 
great  teaching  agent.  Its  chief  musical  work 
consisted  in  founding  music  schools  in  every  dio- 
cese where  singing  priests  and  lay  singers  could 
be  taught  the  service  music  ;  also  where  monks 
and  scribes  could  be  educated  to  the  work  of 
copying  musical  manuscrips  and  duplicating  mis- 
sal, gradual  and  psalter.  By  this  course  many  a 
set  of  "  Antiphonaria  "  were  made  for  the  choirs. 

Having  singing,  and  scales  born  of  the  Greek 
tetrachords  and  hexachords,  what  musical  art 
now  needed  was  that  regulated  system  of  notes, 
staff,  bar  lines  and  time  characters  which  would 
guide  the  vocalist  and  give  fixed  rules  to  musical 
practice  in  place  of  the  indefinite  methods.  Ap- 
propriately enough  the  requirement  was  amply 
fulfilled.  In  different  parts  of  Europe  men  were 
steadily  mastering  and  formulating  the  technical 
foundations  of  music. 

About  the  year  770,  Paul,  a  deacon  of  the 
church  of  Aquilia,  composed  a  hymn  in  honour 
of  St.  John  the  Baptist  with  the  words — 

"  Uxqueant  laxis, 
Rjgsonare  fibris, 
Mira  gestorum 
pAmuli  tuorum, 
^pl>?e  polluti 
LAbia  reatum." 

Sancta  Johannes, 

GuiDO,  a  native  of  Arezzo  (990-1050),  sur- 
named  Inventor  Musicce,  reconstructed  the  scale, 
and  adopted  these  syllables  tit,  re,  mi,  fa,  sol,  la, 
for  teaching  the  art  of  solmization,  or  sol-faing, 


34  THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART    OF   MUSIC 

from  which  day  the  great  system  of  teaching 
singing  in  schools  and  elsewhere  may  be  said  to 
date.  In  these  schools  the  scholars  were  taught 
the  Gregorian  Church  music— the  eight  "authen- 
tic "  and  "  plagal  "  scales,  which  St.  Gregory  had 
formed  from  the  Greek  tetrachords.  Practice 
was  also  afforded  in  singing  the  notes  which  many 
musicians  were  beginning  to  write  over  words. 
Guido  was  the  father  of  solmization  and  the  dis- 
poser of  notes  on  the  staff  lines. 

The  Authentic  Scales,  or  keys,  were — 

„    „    :«»  -"-  _     ^  -e-  ^=»-  "^ 
^^^=P1 


II    o 


Phrygian. 


Dorian. 


Lydian.  Mixo-Lydian. 

The  Plagal,  and  less  ancient  scales,  stood — 


SEE 


Hypo-Dorian  or  iEoIian. 
.    Li    r»    ""?" 


^ 


:i^ct: 


€t     O 


Hypo-Phrygian. 


i 


rr  «» 


^^: 


la^en 


^-I^ 


Hypo-Lydian  or  Ionian. 


Hypo-Mixo-Lydian. 


Guido's  four  lines  developed  into  the  great 
stave  of  eleven  lines,  whereon  each  voice  has 
allotted  to  it  its  particular  range  or  distance — 


:E^ 


JNiP^^g 


Bass.     Baritone.  Tenor.       Alto.        Mezzo-    Soprano.    Violin  or 
Soprano.  G  def. 


MENSURAL  MUSIC 


35 


Each   voice   had  its   own   Clef   (Lat.,  clavis)   as 
follows — 


Treble  or  G  clef. 


^ 


Soprano  clef. 


-^ 


Alto  clef. 


Tenor  clef. 


Bass  or  F  clef. 


^ 


Franco  of  Cologne  {circa  1090)*  made  the 
next  grand  move.  He  formulated  a  system  of 
measured  time  notes  with  corresponding  rests, 
and  also  had  "  triple "  or  "  perfect "  time  and 
"duple"  or  "imperfect"  time.  This  was  most 
important.  The  determining  of  the  relative 
lengths  of  notes  was  a  tremendous  advance  upon 
the  go-as-you-please  principle  of  all  that  had  pre- 
ceded it,  and  it  laid  the  basis  of  all  regulated 
music.  The  first  two  notes  of  mensural  music 
were  the  nota  longa  and  nota  brevis,  to  suit  long 
and  short  syllables.  Later  on  two  more  notes 
were  added — the  semibrevis  and  minima  twta.  Sub- 
sequently another  note  was  brought  into  use — the 


According  to  Forkel. 


36  THK    STORY  OF   THE   ART    OF   MUSIC 

iimple  or  crotchet — two  "simples"  equalling  a 
minim.  All  this  was  a  question  of  time.  So  far 
as  England  is  concerned,  it  is  not  known  exactly 

when  musical  characters 
were  first  introduced, 
but  Thomas  de  Wal- 
syngham,  who  flourished 
about  A.D.  1400,  men- 
tions five  characters  as 
^  being  in  use  here — viz.. 

Ancient  idea  of  an  Organ.  -.  i_     /  /  i 

^  the  large,  long,  or  eve,  semi' 

breve,  and  tninim,  corresponding  with  the  maxima 

(or   duplex   lofiga),   longa,    brevis,    semibrevis,    and 

minim  of  Franco's  system. 

In  the  tenth  century  there  was  another  con- 
tributory feature.  Men  were  beginning  to  make 
organs — primitive  instruments,  with  probably  one 
or  more  rows  of  pipes  tuned  to  the  Gregorian 
tones  which,  when  sounded,  accompanied  the 
voices  in  unison,  possibly  in  fourths  and  fifths. 
No  one  in  England  was  more  zealous  than  Dun- 
stan  (925-975)  in  encouraging  the  use  of  organs. 
He  provided  several  English  abbeys  with  them, 
realising  no  doubt,  that  the  voices  in  the  churches 
needed  instrumental  support  to  keep  them  in  pitch. 
^Ifheah,  Bishop  of  Winchester  (935-951)  gave 
the  cathedral  an  organ  which  could  be  heard 
throughout  the  town. 

It  was  this  passion  for  combining  sounds  which 
set  music  on  its  great  march.  Oriental  and  clas- 
sical races  had  enjoyed  much  experience  with 
music  long  before  the  Western  world  rose  out  of 
its  slumber,  but  no  one  of  them,  not  even  the 
Greeks,  accomplished  much  in  the  way  of  har- 
mony. It  was  reserved  for  awakening  Europe  to 
lay  the  foundations  of  the  great  art  of  music  as 


EARLY   SECULAR   MUSIC 


37 


it  is  understood  and  practised  to-day.  Naturally 
the  progress  was  slow  as  so  much  had  to  be  over- 
come in  the  way  of  notation  and  time  characters, 
ere  anything  could  be  recorded  or  regularly 
measured  and  rendered.  The  labours  of  Guido 
and  Franco  in  formulating  a  system  which  is  in 
use  to-day  wherever  civilised  races  practise  music, 
can  never  be  over  appreciated.  The  great  move 
was  about  to  be  accomplished,  however,  when  it 
dawned  upon  mankind  to  mix  voices  and  combine 
sounds. 

No  one  country  can  claim  credit  of  opening 
up  the  vast  fields  which  the  art  was  so  soon  to 


Primitive  Organ. 

cover.  With  the  material  once  provided,  France, 
Germany,  Spain,  the  Netherlands  and  England — 
each  had  a  great  share  in  settling  and  developing 
scientific  music  in  its  early  days.  It  was  only 
among  the  learned,  chiefly  the  clergy,  that  records 
were  being  kept  of  this  and  that  advance  in  the- 
oretical art;  it  must  not  be  forgotten,  however, 
that  in  each  of  the  countries  named,  a  great  nat- 
ural home-born  wave  of  distinctive  music  was 
springing  up  which  was  destined  to  colour  and 
influence   the  character   of   these  nations'   music   in 


448G9 


38  THE   STORY   OF   THE    ART   OF   MUSIC 

a  remarkable  degree.  The  Church  services  every- 
where kept  music  alive  when  perforce  all  other 
agents  failed.  None  the  less,  the  secular  element 
— the  land  music — was  bursting  forth  with  a  vig- 
our that  was  bound  to  make  it  a  considerable 
factor  in  the  formation  of  a  national  art,  as  also 
in  the  development  of  music  generally.  In  Eng- 
land even,  the  folk  song, .the  origin  of  which 
dates  back  to  a  time  of  which  man  knoweth  not, 
is  now  and  then  the  unextinguished  fire  of  earliest 
ancient  Britains  which  will  ever  characterise  Brit- 
ish music. 

It  was  the  same  with  the  other  countries  men- 
tioned. The  germs  of  Oriental  art  had  drifted 
into  Europe  and  affected  them  as  they  affected 
Albion.  These  germs  took  life  in  a  ready  soil, 
and  so  European  or  Western  world  music  had  its 
origin.  The  natural  innate  harmony  which  filled 
the  breasts  of  the  aborigines  of  those  parts  to 
which  history  first  points,  must  never  be  forgot- 
ten in  the  consideration  of  Music's  birth.  That 
such  existed,  particularly  in  the  British  Islands, 
long  before  the  influence  of  Eastern  music  was 
felt  in  Europe,  is  indisputable. 

So  far  as  Great  Britain  is  concerned,  it  can- 
not be  disproved — although  no  documentary  evi- 
dence exists  to  prove  anything — that  a  system  of 
musical  notation  was  not  in  vogue  there  hundreds 
of  years  anterior  to  Guido  and  Franco.  The  an- 
cient Britons  must  have  possessed  signs  for  hand- 
ing down  music  from  father  to  son — this  being 
almost  a  part  of  their  religion  ;  while  the  very 
earliest  Welsh  records  seem  to  prove  the  exist- 
ence of  harmony  in  Wales.  Doubtless  it  was  of 
the  rudest  kind,  but  it  was  far  in  advance  of  the 
miserable  attempts  at  harmony  (if  we  may  call  it 


BRITISH   AND    SAXON    MUSIC  39 

so)  which  we  find  in  the  works  of  the  early  writers 
on  musical  theory.* 

We  have  done  with  Eastern  music.  Glancing 
over  musical  Europe,  musicians  of  the  three  or 
four  countries  already  mentioned  were  engaged, 
in  developing  the  elements  of  the  art  in  their  sim- 
plest forms.  The  work  which  Sylvester,  Gregory, 
Vitalianus,  and  Charlemagne  had  initiated  was 
spreading  wondrously.  Troubadours  or  musi- 
cians of  the  soil  with  their  secular  art  and  instru- 
ments were  beginning  to  shew  themselves,  first  in 
Provenge.  Church  organs  had  come  into  use  ; 
discantus  (organum  or  diaphony),  the  art  of  play- 
ing one  melody  over  another,  was  merging  from 
an  embryo  state  into  something  of  a  science ; 
above  all  the  inventions  of  Guido  and  Franco 
were  being  gradually  adopted. 

Thus  while  Britain  was  dominated  by  the 
Saxons  who  came  in  the  first  place  with  coarse 
song  and  chorus  not  infrequently  tinged  with  the 
howl  and  oath,  the  same  race  subsequently  be- 
queathed such  things  as  the  glee-hall  and  the 
gleeman's  song,  several  musical  instruments,  the 
art  of  part-singing,  the  "scop"  or  "scald,"  an- 
swering to  the  British  bard,  etc.  The  times  were 
too  stormy,  however,  for  the  cultivation  of  music. 
Had  it  not  been  for  the  light  and  learning  of  such 
minds  as  Caedmon,  Benedict  Biscop,  and  Bede,  it 
is  most  likely  that  the  light  of  English  music 
would  have  been  put  out  for  many  a  generation. 

*  "  History  of  Music"  (Naumann) — Ouseley,  vol.  i.,  p.  395. 


4©  THE   STORY  OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 

CHAPTER  III 

EARLY     HARMONY — FOLK     SONGS — TROUBADOURS 
AND    FIRST    COUNTERPOINT 

Now  could  the  early  harmonists  set  to  work  in 
earnest  as,  indeed,  they  did.  One  of  the  first  and 
best  to  enter  the  lists  of  earliest  music-makers 
was  an  Englishman,  Walter  Odington,  a  Bene- 
dictine monk  of  Evesham  {^circa  1 180-1250)  and 
probably  the  most  learned  and  versatile  writer  of 
the  period.  Odington  left  behind  him  a  valuable 
manuscript,  "  De  Speculatione  Musicae,"  in  six 
books — a  remarkable  work  which,  according  to 
Burney,  was  "  the  most  ample,  satisfactory  and 
valuable  which  the  Middle  Ages  can  boast."  It 
treats  of  scales,  harmonical  proportions,  organ 
pipes,  bells,  poetry,  rhythm,  notation  and  organum 
or  the  composition  of  additional  parts  to  melodies. 
Odington  introduces  us  to  the  following  char- 
acters shewing  that  he,  or  others  had  developed 
notation  beyond  that  known  to  Franco.     Thus — 

Punctum  ^        ■  Aposiropha  y      -- 


Bispututum    m    A  Bistropha        <»     o   ~ 

Tripunctum    ♦»  ^  Tristropha     J  J  ^ 


Virga         - 
Bivirgia       ^      m 


Virga  Biconpumtis    4  ^  ~l    ^  4 


Virga  Triconpututis—fondiatessaries, 


Trivergia  ^     ^      "^        condiapentis^  etc. 

C  Story  of  Brit.  Music,"  p.  286O 


EARLY    HARMONY  41 

Marchettus  of  Padua  {circa  1 280-1320)  next 
accomplished  important  work  in  the  development 
of  mensural  music  and  harmony.  Marchettus' 
chief  contribution  to  musical  progress  was  jn  es- 
tablishing the  first  correct  principles  of  conso- 
nance and  dissonance.  Harmony,  or  concord  in 
music  is  one  thing  and  this  was  known  to  the  ears 
of  many  before  Marchettus'  time  ;  but  music  could 
not  long  remain  all  concord  any  more  than  or- 
dinary existence  could  be  one  undisturbed  se- 
quence of  happiness.  The  acids  of  music  were 
required  in  order  that  harmony  might  be  the  more 
appreciated.  Consequently  discords — combina- 
tions of  opposite  notes  which  when  struck  de- 
manded a  resolution  or  settling  into  concord  or 
harmony — were  invented. 

John  de  Muris  {circa  1330-1400)  was  a  doctor 
of  the  Sorbonne,  Paris.  To  Muris  (or  Meurs) 
belongs  the  honour  of  introducing  the  idea  of 
florid  counterpoint,  and  among  the  rules  of  har- 
mony he  laid  down — as  also  did  Marchettus — was 
that  all-important  one  holding  good  to-day  that 
two  perfect  consonances,  unison,  fifth,  and  octave, 
shall  not  succeed  each  other  in  similar  motion. 
Treatises  of  his  are  in  existence  which  prove  that 
he  rendered  excellent  aid  in  forming  the  founda- 
tions of  theoretical  music — most  important  work 
inasmuch  as  no  marked  development  could  take 
place  in  composition  until  the  grammar  of  music 
had  become  law.  Therefore  it  is  that  the  step  by 
step  labours  of  these  early  theorists  require  to 
become  known  and  understood. 

It  must  not  be  gathered  that  musicians  of 
about  the  fourteenth  century  were  engaged  in  writ- 
ing dry  treatises  only.  Composition  was  going 
on  apace  in  England,  the   Netherlands,   France, 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  MUSIC 


"SUMER  IS  ICUMEN  IN." 
{MS.  No.  978  Haruian  Collection,  Brit.  Mus.) 


f3_._Q — zraz 


=f=fi 


S 


Su   -   mer    is         i    -    cu  -  men      in  -  -  ,     Lhu  -  de 


^ 


Su  -  mer 


5?a: 


Fi^rft-^ 


Sing 


cue     •    -    cu 


m 


Sing 


^Bz 


Sing 


cue    -    -    cu 


Sing 


=^1=^ 


::^±icii 


Sing    cue  -  cu 


Grow-eth    sed,    and 


*^  i«  I     -    ni    -    fn**n        in    -  -   .         T.Tiii     -    r1*» 


is  i   -   CU  -  men     in  -  -  ,      Lhu  -   de     Sing  cue- 


^^^^ 


^ 


Su  -  mer    is        i 


H 


F=:=^7: 


^ 


cue     •     •     cu 


Sing 


nu    .    .        Sing 


"SUMER   IS   ICUMEN    IN' 


43 


^ 


^: 


blow-eth  med,  And  sprlngth  the    w  -  -  de 


Grow-eth  sed,      and 


:=r 


-p=p^- 


3=t: 


:r3: 


^ 


Lhu  -  de  Sing    cue- 


&C. 


Su  -  mer     is 


^ 


::i: 


Sing 


^ 


cu  Sing  cue  -  - 

Germany,  and  Italy.  The  most  remarkable  mu- 
sical MS.  in  existence  had  long  been  written. 
This  v.- as  an  early  part-song,  *' Sumer  is  icumen 
in,'"  the  work  of  an  Englishman,  John  of  Fornsete, 
monk  of  Reading. 

"  Summer  has  come  in  "  is  the  oldest  piece  of 
polyphonic  and  canonical  composition  in  exist- 
ence. It  is  a  Northumbrian  round  in  six  parts 
including  the  "pes"  or  ground  bass.  In  the 
writing  of  the  thirteenth  century,  it  was  probably 
composed  about  1226-1230,  and  both  for  its  mel- 
ody and  harmony  is  an  extraordinary  composi- 
tion. If  compared  with  any  other  music  of  the 
same  date  it  will  show  English  art  to  be  far  in 
advance  of  that  of  every  other  country.  No 
music  from  the  monasteries,  either  abroad  or  at 
home,  approaches  it  either  in  characteristic  quality 
or    learning.     Further    on    is    a    composition — of 


44 


THE   STORY   OF  THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 


about  the  year  1280 — by  Adam  de  la  Hale,  a 
troubadour  in  the  service  of  the  Comte  de  Pro- 
xhn^e  which,  agreeable  as  it  is — bears  no  com- 
parison with  John  of  Fornsete's  graceful,  learned 
work. 

A  digression  from  the  story  of  music's  gram- 
mar and  early  composition  must  be  made  to  con- 
sider an  element  fast  growing  up  all  over  Europe 
that  was  to  reflect  itself  in 
the  sacred  as  well  as  the 
secular  music  of  the  pe- 
riod. This  was  the  soil 
or  land  music.  The  posi- 
tion that  folk  music  oc- 
cupied at  a  period  when 
Europe  was  without  musi- 
cal art,  beyond  what  was 
employed  in  churches, 
was  unique,  seeing  how 
it  has  reflected  itself,  and 
has  been  referred  to  in 
every  phase  of  modern 
art.  Its  value  and  aid 
as  a  sure  index  of  the 
people's    mind   wherever 

it    has    sprung    up  ;    its 

Performer  on  a  Three-striked  tinge  and  colour;  its  earli- 
Crout,  or  Rotte.  est    natural   beauty;    its 

frequently  unsatisfactory 
shape  (as  looked  at  by  the  modern  scientific 
musician),  all  these  are  qualities  of  this  art  of  the 
countries  of  Europe  which  require  to  be  consid- 
ered in  the  task  of  accounting  for  modern  music. 
One  cannot  build  up  a  nation's  music  without 
regarding  the  untaught,  />.  the  natural  music  of 
each  country  concerned.     Wherever  the  folk  song 


FOLK  SONGS 


45 


has  sprouted  and  flourished  amid  its  pure  air  of 
nature,  it  has  emanated  from  the  Hfe  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  has  grown  out  of  them  and  out  of  the 
soil  they  trod.  Hebrews,  Greeks,  and  Romans 
all  had  their  songs  of  the  soil,  and,  while  women 
lightened  their  more  or  less  legitimate  work  with 
their  home-tunes,  the  men  tempered  the  war- 
weapon  to  their  tunes  and  ploughed  many  a  fur- 
row to  their  rhythms.  Every  atom  of  folk-music 
is  an  emanation  from  the  human  heart,  and  is  as 
psychologically  true  national  music  as  music  can 
be.  The  shepherd  tending  his  flock,  the  soldier 
on  the  march,  the  fisherman  repairing  his  nets, 
the  sower  casting  seed,  the  reaper  joyous  with 
sickle,  the  mother  and  nurse  at  the  cot;  these, 
and  more,  chanted  tunes  long  before  a  scientific 
art  obtained  in  any  country.  Nor  should  we  for- 
get here  the  Sagaman  and  Scald  of  the  Norse 
peoples.  To  them  Europe  owes  the  Va/se  rhythm, 
used  by  them  for  singing  the  tales  of  the  past 
and  their  own  time. 

Unadorned  by  art,  the  chief  characteristic  of 
the  folk  song  is  its  fidelity  to  the  natural  and 
human  aspects  of  nature.  It  tells  of  the  indoor 
and  outdoor  life  of  every  worker  as  we  see  it  re- 
flected in  each  faithful  mirror  of  times  dear  to 
every  lover  of  his  country.  Realize  the  loftiness, 
earnestness  and  manliness  of  the  progenitors  of 
the  English  to-day  in  this  song — 


-\rvr 


German  Peasant  Song. 


Trace   the  enthusiasm  and  fancy  in  the  folk 
song  of  the  Gaul !     How  the  vigour  and  hardiness 


46  THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART    OF   MUSIC 

of  the  Norse  people  assert  themselves  in  their 
land  music.  Consider  the  sweetness  and  loveli- 
ness of  the  Provencal  bards'  folk  song!  Let  the 
lover  of  the  Slav  lands  contrast  the  sturdy  blunt- 
ness  of  the  following  combination  of  Russian 
tones  with  the  warm  enthusiasm  and  gaiety  of 
something  that  is  melodically  Spanish,  such  as 
the  Andalusian  air  below  it — 

Ird  &c. 


Russian  Soldier's  Melody. 


Andalusian  Air. 

In  national  airs  like  these,  we  meet  with  un- 
concealed musical  truthfulness.  Unhappily,  the 
English  musical  style  has,  at  present,  no  character 
at  all,  although  it  had  once.  The  French  is 
sparkling  and  naive,  the  Italian  suave  and  grace- 
ful, the  Polish,  mournful  and  affecting,  the  Ger- 
man, bracing  and  convincing  ;  Spanish,  poignant 
and  gay;  Russian,  unsympathetic  but  attractive; 
Scandinavian,  keen  and  cutting;  American,  dis- 
tressingly concordant ;  African,  hopelessly  dis- 
cordant. And  so  we  might  go  on,  but  all  that 
has  been  said  is  perfectly  true,  artistically.  No- 
body is  to  blame  for  all  this.  The  music  of  the 
soil  has  grown  of  itself.  The  national  music  of 
any  country  has  no  fixed  composer  and  the  ear- 
liest inhabitants  cannot  account  for  it.  Breath 
of  the  sod,  the  original  folk  song  with  all  its 
warmth  and  truth,  has  given  life  to  kindred  tone 
and  colour  centuries  after;  and  even  before  that 


FOLK  SONGS 


47 


time,  when,  thanks  to  Guido  d'Arezzo's  great 
Work,  the  perpetuation  of  men's  musical  thoughts 
became  possible;  an  age  (1000-1300)  to  which  we 
must  turn  for  all  that  we  desire  to  know  about 
the  first  blossomings  of  music  of  the  soil. 

In  several  countries  this  folk  music  has  proved 
of  inestimable  service  in  preserving  the  musical 
character  of  county  or  country.  We  get  it  in 
Scotland,  Ireland  and  Wales ;  but  not  quite  so 
much  in  England.  English  musical  character  has 
passed  through  a  series  of  adverse  conditions, 
chiefly  of  a  so-called  "  improving "  character, 
which  has  made  it  all  but  unrecognisable  among 
the  Continental  musical  schools;  but  that  it  had, 
and  might  always  have,  its  flavour  if  the  system 
of  imparting  national  musical  training  were  on  a 
proper  basis,  is  indisputable.  Pure  British  folk 
music  has  all  the  mixture  of  influences  which  have 
been  infused  into  the  British  race,  and  which  have 
made  them  pre-eminent  as  a  people.  No  one  needs 
to  be  reminded  of  the  thoroughly  home  character 
of  old  English  songs  and  ballads,  while  the  dis- 
tinctiveness of  the  Irish,  Scotch  and  Welsh  airs 
is  as  marked  as  it  can  well  be.  Note  the  native 
character  abounding  in  the  following  melodies — 

Quickly 


-^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^m.^^ 


Plaintively 


Scotch  Melody. 


^^^^^^^^^m 


HJ  &c. 

Welsh  Melody. 


48 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 


Hwcetly 


i^^^^^^pi 


Irish  Melody. 


Probably  every  country  has  had  folk  music, 
though  comparatively  little  is  noted  down.  Tra- 
ditional airs,  many  of  them  have  been  long  last- 
ing strains  of  many  forefathers  before  the  art  of 
notation  was  known  ;  and  certainly  all  early  music 
of  every  country  would  be  largely  permeated  with 
primitive  musings.  The  early  contrapuntists  used 
the  best-known  folk  music  as  themes  for  their 
masses  and  motets.  As  an  art  factor,  the  folk 
song  is  important.  Out  of  it,  and  the  few  notes 
of  Gregory  known  as  the  Gregorian  Tones,  the 
vast  structure  of  modern  musical  art  has  grown. 
Guido,  Franco,  de  Muris,  Odington — all  fed  upon 
them. 

It  was  the  minstrel  in  England,  the  minne- 
singer in  Germany,  the  troubadour  in  Southern 
France  and  Provenge,  who  added  grace  and  ro- 
mance to  the  folk  song  by  their  polished  singing 
and  delicate  accompaniments — using  the  popular 
melodies  to  carry  stories  of  romantic  and  his- 
torical interest.  Thus  the  national  song  and 
ballad  had  their  origin.  The  Norman  Conquest 
gave  a  great  impetus  to  this  improvised  music 
which  occupied  the  minds  of  rich  and  poor  alike. 
Here  is  a  characteristic  song — in  present-day  no- 
tation— which  Thibaut,  King  of  Navarre  (1201- 
1253)  was  wont  to  sing — 


TROUBADOURS 


49 


ini^^^^ 


I  thought  rdvanquish'clmightylove,butfindinyself  de-ceived, 


^ 


?^^_E^3E^ 


^ 


^^ 


pit: 


4-4- 


ga3^.#gg^ 


iii-li3a^35§^g,3^ 


For  ev'ry  hour,     a -las!   I  prove  the  conquest  unachiev'd.     &c 


eESE 


±=5 


:— -tf 


Thirteenth  Century  Melody. 

Other  celebrated  troubadours  of  this  period 
whose  songs  have  come  down  to  us  were  Adam 
de  la  Hale  {circa  1280),  Chatelain  de  Courcy,  and 
Faidit.  The  following  is  a  specimen  of  de  la 
Hale's  work,  an  old  French  chanson  in  descant 
or  counterpoint  for  three  voices.  Its  chief  in- 
terest centres  in  the  sentiment  it  seeks  to  reflect 
and  the  marked  progress  it  shows  in  the  difficult 
art  of  counterpoint  or  constructional  music — 

De  la  Hale. 


Q     '  ** 4-:^ — o — "-^o -: 


St^ 


E^E^E^t^ 


^: 


igi: — C2_ 


n=t 


E^ttti^ 


=s=i"Ti- 


5° 


THE  STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 


5^pj^ 


:!^ingE 


m^^^g 


^^ 


^  -Tf 


i^P=ai 


Early  French  Chanson  (Thirteenth  Century  Counterpoint). 

Here  is  another  example  of  de  la  Hale  as  a 
melodist,  harmonised  by  a  modern  musician, 
Ritter — 


r^r 


D.C.  # 


^#ftt^PfP^^ 


UWJJ  jv;^V!/y=au 


From  de  la  Hale's  Masque  Robin  and  Marion. 


For  several  generations,  then,  most  simple 
harmony  made  up  the  ecclesiastical  music  of  Eng- 
land and  other  European  countries.  Not  a  little 
of  the  development  it  underwent  had  its  origin, 
probably,  from  the  fashion  during  the  thirteenth 
century  of  embellishing  the  ordinary  plain  chants 


ENGLISH    MUSICAL   INSTRUMENTS 


51 


with  ornaments  and  graces  in  order  to  distinguish 

the  festivals   and   high   days — which   ornaments, 

being  Hked  and  becoming  known,  were  eventually 

adopted.     Folk  music — the  song  of  the  people — 

continued   to    exercise 

its    influence     outside 

the  Church,  while  the 

best    intellect    of    the 

period    devoted    itself 

to     the      development 

principally  of  the  organ 

among  instruments, and 

to  the  groundwork  of 

musical  grammar. 

Besides  the  organ, 
native  English  wind 
instruments  were  the 
horn,  trumpet,  bagpipe, 
and  flageolet.  The  old 
crwth,  identified  with 
British  musical  history 
from  time  immemorial, 
was  popularly  used.  It 
was  a  three- stringed  instrument  played  with  a 
bow,  and  therefore  a  sort  of  primitive  violin. 
There  was  also  the  hurdy-gurdy,  drum,  tabor, 
rote  or  zither,  and  a  species  of  dulcimer  plucked 
with  the  finger  or  a  plectrum.  Bells,  too,  were 
commonly  used  for  sacred  and  secular  purposes. 


Performer  on  a  Circular  Psaltery 
of  Twelfth  Century. 


52  THE   STORY  OF   THE  ART  OF  MUSIC 

CHAPTER   IV 

FOURTEENTH     CENTURY     MUSIC — RISE     OF    OPERA 

AND  ORATORIO — THE  ORGAN EARLY  SCHOOLS 

OF    MUSIC 

The  close  of  the  fourteenth  and  opening  of 
the  fifteenth  centuries  brought  a  marked  advance 
in  Music's  growth  and  history.  Spontaneous  art, 
romance  music,  troubadours,  and  unwritten  art 
generally,  were  fast  giving  way  before  the  march 
of  a  more  formal  art.  Four  countries  entered 
Music's  domain,  almost  simultaneously,  and 
founded  the  first  of  the  European  Schools  of 
Music.  These  early  schools  were  the  Nether- 
lands or  Belgian,  the  German,  Italian,  and  Eng- 
lish. 

The  Netherlands  School — known  also  as  the 
Flemish — flourished  for  some  two  hundred  years 
(1400-1600).  Its  first  great  light  was  Guillaume 
Dufay  (1350-1432).  Then  came  Johann  Ocken- 
heim  {circa  1430-15 13),  Josquin  des  Pres  (1445- 
1521),  Willaert  (1490-1563),  and  Orlando  Lassus 
(1520-1594).  These  men  built  up  the  Belgian 
School.  Each  had  pupils,  many  of  them  illus- 
trious names  in  the  art's  history ;  but  the  narra- 
tive must  pass  over  all  who  were  not  actual  lead- 
ers in  musical  thought  and  invention. 

The  art  of  Counterpoint  was  all  and  every- 
thing with  this  School,  until  it  became  so  famous 
therein  that  other  countries  sent  to  it  for  profess- 
ors of  the  fugal  art.  There  was  growing  up  in 
Europe  a  great  demand  for  sacred  music,  and 
this  canonic  or  fugal  style  found  vent  chiefly  in 
mass,  motet,  and  other  ecclesiastical  music  forms. 


FOURTEENTH   CENTURY   MUSIC 


53 


DuFAY  possessed  a  style  that  was  at  once  pleas- 
ing and  finished.  He  left  some  remarkable  speci- 
mens of  composition  for  the  time  at  which  they 
were  written  ;  indeed,  many  of  his  contrapuntal 
devices  have  been  ascribed  to  much  later  writers. 

DUFAY. 


Specimen  of  Canon  in  Two  Parts  (Octave  above). 

OcKENHEiM  greatly  extended  Counterpoint, 
especially  in  the  direction  of  Canon — his  compo- 
sitions evincing  a  decided  yearning  after  the 
emotional  element.  Josquin,  in  his  psalms  and 
motets,  left  musical  "  masterpieces  which  will  be 
listened  to  for  all  time,  as  real  jewels  among  sa- 
cred music."  His  style  was  replete  with  original- 
ity and  finish.  The  extract  on  pp.  54  and  55,  well 
impressed  with  contrapuntal  device,  from  one  of 
his  Masses,  shews  a  great  stride  in  composition. 
Hitherto,  music  in  three  parts  only  had  obtained  ; 
here  we  have  a  capital  example  of  pronounced 
four-part  work  from  which  it  is  easy  to  realise 
that  he  "  not  only  vanquished  all  the  existing  dif- 
ficulties of  canon,  fugue,  imitation,  and  every 
species  of  learned  contrivance  and  ingenious  con- 
texture of  consonant  combination,  but  invented 
new  structures  of  harmony,  original  adjustments 


54  THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 


oi  part  with  part,  and  was,  in  a  great  measure,  the 
father  of  polyphonic  composition.* 

JOSQUIN  DES  PrES. 


w 


^^^—.fh-,-^^^^^=^^^^^^^^^- 


SE 


.bo. 


^^si-EE^^_E 


=z1=^^:^ 


1^ 


PC  is: 


i^PP^PP 


4^-/-!?- 


E^H^£_^;3 


^S^E5 


^ 


eE^^E 


*  Busby. 


±iti±=: 


JOSQUIN    DES   PRES 

ft     .  n 


55 


^^ 


^ 


U    B 


:cf:=S¥>: 


It 

.  O    /  >    1-0" 


i 


^e 


s 


^mm^m^^i^==:^^^ 


i 


=t=t; 


^ 


g=£tEa^^^p&=;i^ 


specimen  of  Josquin's  Counterpoint. 
(From  one  of  his  Masses.) 


56  THE   STORY  OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 

Willaert's  efforts  were  especially  note- 
worthy. He  invented  the  madrigal  form;  im- 
proved the  motet ,  wrote  compositions  for  five, 
six,  and  seven  parts  ;  chief  of  all,  he  introduced 
the  double  chorus — using  it  antiphonally.  Las- 
sus,  "  Prince  of  Music,"  the  last  of  these  famous 
early  Belgian  musicians,  was  remarkable  chiefly 
for  the  variety  and  grandeur  of  his  harmony — 
mainly  owing  to  the  introduction  of  the  chromatic 
element.     His  motets,  lamentations,  responsories. 


Ancient  English  Church  Organ. 

hymns,  etc.,  shew  also  a  great  advance  in  that 
all-important  direction — melody — the  wings  of 
Music.  Another  country  was  coming  along,  how- 
ever, with  a  melodic  force  that  was  destined  to 
shroud  all  that  Belgium  accomplished  in  this 
direction.     This  was  Italy. 

Julius  II.  (1503-15 13)  invited  Belgian  musi- 
cians to  visit  Rome  and  take  control  of  the 
Church  music.     It  was  little  short  of  a  command, 


EARLY  ITALIAN   MUSIC  57 

and  the  Netherlanders  went  to  be  eye-witnesses 
of  several  remarkable  musical  developments. 

The  organ  comes  in  here.  Hitherto,  there 
had  been  the  ancient  hydraulic  or  water  organ  ; 
a  second  century  instrument  with  ten  pipes  and 
a  key-board;  organs  of  the  tenth  century  such  as 
Wulfstan  and  Dunstan  erected,  having  few  pipes 
and  many  wind  chests  for  blowing;  keys,  several 
inches  wide — which  had  to  receive  a  blow  from 
the  fist  to  make  them  yield.  These  instruments 
could  do  no  more,  however,  than  echo  the  crude 
plain-song  or  the  still  harsher  orgamim.  What 
was  to  prove  the  most  comprehensive  of  all  in- 
struments could  not  stop  here.  About  1490, 
Bernhardt,  a  German,  introduced  that  splendid 
addition,  the  pedal  board — beginning  with  an 
octave  set.  Then  some  ingenious  Venetian  work- 
ers thought  of  half  notes  or  semitones  for  the 
organ — which  smaller  interval,  though  long  pro- 
pounded in  early  Treatises,  had  hitherto  been 
lacking  in  keyed  instruments.  Squarcialupo,  a 
Florentine,  and  Bernhardt,  surnamed  "the  Ger- 
man," were  notable  organists  in  Venice  during 
the  fifteenth  century. 

A  still  more  important  development — one  that 
greatly  influenced  musical  art — was  the  invention 
of  Music  Printing.  Hitherto  all  music  books  and 
MSS.  were  the  outcome  of  penmanship.  Missal, 
gradual,  psalter,  and  antiphonaria  needed  to  be 
copied  and  duplicated — and  industrious  monks 
did  this  with  their  quills,  finding  in  such  work  a 
welcome  relief  to  the  monotonous  life  of  the 
monastery.  In  1502  it  occurred  to  Ottavio  Pe- 
trucci,  a  printer  of  Fossembrone,  to  print  musical 
notes  with  moveable  metal  types.  Thus  it  is  to 
Italy  that  we  owe  the  art  of  Music  Printing — a 


5^     THE  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  MUSIC 

process  which  since  the  invention  of  steam  has 
proved  so  beneficial  in  disseminating  music. 

It  was  about  the  year  1500  that  the  purely 
Italian  School  had  its  rise.  The  first  thorough 
Italian  master  was  Festa  (d.  1545)  whose  music  is 
characterised  by  remarkable  clearness,  originality, 
and  the  melodic  suavity  and  grace,  particularly 
in  the  uppermost  part,  which  have  ever  been 
features  of  this  school.  All  who  know  the 
English  version  (Down  in  a  flow'ry  vale)  of  his 
Madrigal,  Qiiando  ritrovo  la  mia  pastorella,  will 
admit  as  much  of  his  charming,  delicate  touch 
and  style.  Its  flow  and  harmony  are  surprising 
for  the  period.  Contemporary  with  him  was 
Palestrina  (1524-1594). 

Here  we  come  to  a  really  great  name  in  early 
Italian  musical  history.  A  pupil  of  Goudimel,  he 
"grasped  the  essential  doctrines  of  his  school, 
without  adopting  its  mannerism."  Whatever  those 
"  doctrines  "  were  worth,  Palestrina  certainly  took 
forward  the  music  of  his  country  in  wondrous 
fashion.  After  a  sound  church  musical  training 
and  experience,  he  developed  great  powers  as  a 
composer — writing  a  vast  number  of  masses, 
motets,  a  Stabat  Mater  for  two  choirs,  etc. 

One  valuable  feature  marked  all  Palestrina's 
sacred  art.  This  was  the  lofty,  reverent  nature 
of  his  harmony,  which  was  as  arresting  as  it  was 
beautiful.  This  aspect  of  his  musical  genius 
suddenly  brought  him  into  great  prominence. 
It  was  in  the  year  1562  that  the  Council  of 
Trent  condemned  the  frivolous  style  and  char- 
acter that  the  church  music  had  assumed,  and 
proposed  banishing  music  from  the  services. 
Pope  Pius  IV.  interposed.  He  was  aware  that 
the    Mass   music   had    lost   much   of    the  simple, 


PALESTRINA  59 

solemn  character,  which  marked  that  introduced 
by  the  Netherlanders  :  and  not  wishing  to  return 
to  the  use  of  the  Gregorian  Plain-song  as  Mass 
music,  he  engaged  Palestrina  to  compose  three 
model  masses  upon  which  the  Council  would  pass 
judgment.  Music,  as  represented  by  Palestrina, 
triumphed,  and  he  was  commissioned  to  compose 
masses  for  the  Vatican  services.  Thus  was  music 
saved  in  the  Roman  Church. 

The  great  modification  in  musical  custom  and 
growth  that  Palestrina  effected  was  the  taking  of 
the  principal  melody,  or  cantiis  Jirmus,  from  the 
tenor  part,  where  it  had  hitherto  been,  and  giving 
it  to  the  highest  pitch  voice — the  treble  or  soprano 
— by  which  step  we  may  assume  that  boys'  or 
women's  voices  had  by  this  time  been  drawn 
into  the  church  services.  Down  to  Palestrina's 
day,  melody  had  been  held  of  too  little  account. 
This  great  reformer  remedied  this,  and  set  musical 
art  upon  the  wings  of  tune  as  well  as  science. 
Manifestly  this  giving  the  melody  to  the  highest 
natural  voice  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  as 
well  as  progressive  stages  that  the  art  could  be 
made  to  take. 

Another  Italian  musician  who  took  music  a  step 
onward  at  this  period  was  Gabrielli  (1540-1612). 
He,  it  may  be  said,  made  the  first  attempts  at 
utilising  instruments  collectively,  as  in  an  orches- 
tra. The  idea  of  vocal  compositions  for  two  or 
more  choirs  had  even  spread  among  composers.  So 
far,  however,  the  orchestra  had  not  been  gathered 
together.  Gabrielli's  crude  attempts  at  orchestra- 
tion, therefore,  mark,  however  slightly,  a  period. 
Among  his  compositions  is  a  score  I?i  Ecclesiis 
Be7iedicite  Domifiiim  for  two  choirs,  with  an  orches- 
tral accompaniment  of  one  violin,  three  cornets, 


Co  THE   STORY   OF    THE    ART    OF   MUSIC 

and  two  trombones.  This  is  probably  the  earliest 
instance  of  the  use  of  the  orchestra,  as  we  under- 
stand the  term,  that  modern  music  affords.  In- 
strumental music  in  the  sixteenth  century  was  in 
such  a  confused  state  that  it  is  difficult  to  find  a 
fixed  point  from  which  to  date  the  development 
of  the  modern  orchestra.  Gabrielli's  score,  how- 
ever, furnishes  an  important  start. 

Something  must  now  be  said  of  Opera.  We  are 
indebted  to  Italy  for  this  well-tried  musical  form, 
the  origin  of  which  took  place  at  this  period.  A 
number  of  Florentine  literati  conceived  the  idea 
of  an  art-form  that  should  be  a  combination  of 
music  and  the  drama.  It  was  to  be  based  upon 
the  Greek  plays — containing  as  they  did  song, 
or  flowing  melody  and  monody,  /.  e.  recitative  or 
declaimed,  spoken  music  {jnusica  parlante).  The 
first  opera  produced  by  this  society  of  dilettanti 
was  Dafne^  which  one  of  their  number,  Peri, 
composed  in  1594.  It  had  an  orchestra  of  one 
harpsichord,  one  chitaraone — a  sort  of  guitar — 
one  lyre  and  one  lute,  and  was  so  much  liked,  that 
others  of  its  kind  were  speedily  produced. 

Obviously  this  was  a  distinct  art  step.  It  is 
easy  to  comprehend  how  it  widened  out  the 
sphere  of  musical  expression  and  practice ;  how 
it  afforded  scope  for  the  declaration  of  the  secular 
as  opposed  to  the  ecclesiastical  mind  in  music — 
which  latter  had  hitherto  almost  wholly  obtained; 
also  how  the  technical  and  theoretical  bearings 
of  music  were  bound  to  be  affected  by  so  grand 
an  art  medium.  In  fact,  in  the  second  opera 
Euridice,  there  were,  for  the  first  time,  all  the  con- 
stituents of  modern  opera — recitative,  air,  chorus, 
and  a  hidden  orchestra. 

Strangely  enough  Oratorio  came  into  existence 


RISE   OF   OPERA   AND   ORATORIO  6 1 

at  this  same  period — Italy  being  also  the  birth- 
land  of  this  sacred  drama  as  it  had  been  of  the 
secular.  The  oratorio  was  a  development  of 
miracle  plays  and  mysteries  of  mediaeval  times, 
which  had  fulfilled  their  purpose  for  good  or  ill 
for  ages.  At  about  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  Philip  de  Neri,  founder  of  the  Florentine 
Order  of  Oratorians,  introduced  scenes  from 
sacred  and  secular  history  into  the  musical  drama- 
performances  at  his  oratory.  Thus  was  the 
ground  made  for  the  Oratorio ;  although  it  was 
not  until  the  year  1600  that  the  first  real  oratorio 
was  produced. 

Emilio  del  Cavaliere  was  the  composer  of 
the  earliest  true  example  of  oratorio  entitled 
La  Rappreseniazione  deli  Amj/ia  e  dell  Corpo.  In  it 
were  principal  characters  for  Soul,  Body,  Time, 
Life,  Intellect,  etc. ;  and,  as  it  possessed  a  chorus 
and  orchestra  it  was  not  unlike  oratorio  as  we 
have  it  to-day.  The  orchestra  of  L'Anima  e 
Corpo  consisted  of  a  double  lyre,  a  harpsichord,  a 
double  guitar,  two  flutes  and  a  theorbo — a  kind 
of  bass — very  different  in  character  from  that  of 
Gabrielli,  who  was  bold  enough  to  take  brass 
instruments  into  the  church. 

Between  opera"  and  oratorio  is  one  great  dis- 
tinguishing feature.  In  opera  all  is  singing  and 
action,  enabling  many  persons  who  can  sing  but 
cannot  act,  and  vice  versa,  to  pass  themselves  off 
as  respectable  performers.  Unlike  opera,  action 
is  forbidden  in  oratorio — emotion,  expression  and 
dramatic  effect  being  secured  by  a  dependence 
upon  orchestral  invention  and  combination,  with 
the  culture  and  intelligence  of  the  soloists  and 
chorus.  Thus,  the  oratorio  is  a  much  higher 
form  of  musical  art.     It  must  not  be  concluded, 


62 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 


however,  that  these  earliest  oratorios  were  al- 
together without  action.  That  would  have  been 
too  great  a  leap  at  first.  Most  likely  is  it  that 
they  slightly  resembled  the  modern  Passion  Play 
as  performed  at  Ober  Ammergau.  Unlike  later 
oratorii,  too,  L'Anima  e  Corpo  had  no  duet,  trio 
and  quartet  to  break  the  monotomy  of  solo  and 
chorus. 

From  the  following  air  apportioned  to  Intel- 
lect it  will  be  seen  that  melody  was  not  a  strong 
feature  with  Emilio,  since  in  tunefulness  it  is  far 
behind  the  music  of  Festa.  Perhaps,  however, 
the  sense  that  the  music  was  to  be  sung  in  a 
church  restricted  it  to  this  ecclesiastical,  some- 
what note  against  note,  character — 

Jntelletto 


EOE 


¥^ 


Og  -  ni    CO:         iuia  il     be    -     ne      nessun     vuol- 


^ 


=EP= 


?^ 


=1 \-^ 

zA      -r  ■*• 


star  in    pe     •     ne  ;     quin-di   mel       le     de-si     -     ri.     &c. 


^ 


^f 


-r>      -i^ 


^ 


t3= 


The  world,  then,  stands  indebted  to  Italy  for 
both  Oratorio  and  Opera.  While  the  "  cradle  of 
art,"  as  Italy  has  been  termed,  nestled  these 
forms,  other  countries  were  performing  a  great 
work  in  the  development  of  musical  art.  High 
among  these  were  Germany  and  England. 

At  about  the  year  1460  several  German  con- 
trapuntists disputed  with  the  Netherlanders  the 
monopoly  of   Northern   musical  art.     Protestant 


CHORAL  6^ 

Church  song  had  become  as  much  a  necessity  as 
the  Mass  music  of  the  Roman  Church,  and  it 
was  the  music  identified  with  that  great  rehgious 
movement — the  Reformation — that  was  destined 
to  form  the  foundation  of  all  future  German 
musical  character,  as  well  as  to  affect  music — 
particularly  the  oratorio.  When  Luther  (1483- 
1546)  threw  off  his  allegiance  to  the  Church  and 
began  to  preach  certain  reform  doctrines,  he  was 
unconsciously  modifying  the  music  as  well  as  the 
religion  of  the  world.  Luther,  Schutz,  Reiser, 
Graun,  evolved  a  style  of  music  which  supplied 
the  foundation  of  all  future  German  art — whether 
instrumental  or  vocal.  They  gave  it  that  solid- 
ity, breadth,  and  earnestness  which  have  ever 
since  been  the  prevailing  features  of  Teuton  art. 

Luther  perceived  that  song  for  the  people 
was  to  prove  a  powerful  factor  in  the  reformed 
faith,  and  he  needed  an  element  to  take  the  place 
of  the  Roman  plain-song.  The  outcome  of  this 
was  the  C/iora/,*  which  he  and  his  contemporaries, 
and  many  after  them,  poured  out  with  surprising 
zeal.  The  breadth  and  vigour  which  character- 
ised these  hymn  tunes  with  their  broad  harmo- 
nies, went  straight  home  to  the  hearts  of  the 
German  people,  sung  as  they  were  in  unison  to 
organ  or  orchestral  accompaniment. 

The  Choral,  traceable  to  the  influence  of  the 
Volkslied,  hastened  and  influenced  all  subsequent 
German  sacred  song  and  prepared  the  way  for  the 
"  Passion  "  music  and  oratorios  in  the  composi- 
tion of  which  German  composers  excelled  beyond 

*  The  German  name  for  the  Plain-song  of  the  Roman 
Church.  After  the  Reformation  the  name  Choral.  (Eng. 
"  Chorale")  was  given  to  our  hymns. 

5 


64  THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF    MUSIC 

all  Others.  If  the  oratorio  had  remained  in  the 
land  of  its  birth  it  is  extremely  improbable  that 
it  would  have  developed  into  the  grand  shape  as 
we  know  it.  The  Italian  musical  character  and 
temperament  were  unsuited  to  it ;  on  the  con- 
trary, the  bracing  German  national  character 
suited  it  exactly.  Schutz  (1585-1672)  and 
Keiser  (1673-1735)  were  two  celebrated  com- 
posers of  Passion  music  anterior  to  the  period  of 
the  giants  of  German  choral  art.  Keiser's  "  The 
Bleeding  and  Dying  Jesus"  is  a  truly  great 
work.  Graun's  fine  Passion  oratorio  Der  Tod 
Jesii  ("  The  Death  of  Jesus  ")  is,  if  possible,  a 
still  nobler  composition. 

English  musical  doings  moved  this  while.  The 
innate  love  of  music  among  the  people  was  such 
that  from  King  Alfred's  time  up  to  the  fifteenth 
century  the  art  spread  amazingly  among  both  the 
upper  and  lower  classes.  While  the  nobles  en- 
joyed music  in  their  castles  and  halls,  the  poorer 
folk  had  their  fireside  or  open  air  art.  Minstrelsy 
was  the  class  of  music  that  mostly  obtained,  and 
this  became  so  popular  in  England  that  laws  and 
licenses  were  found  10  be  necessary  to  control 
matters.  Despite  several  centuries  of  stormy 
times,  too,  the  love  of  instrumental  music  de- 
veloped. In  Chaucer's  time  (1340-1400)  there 
were  at  least  the  treble,  counter-treble,  tenor  and 
bass  in  vocal  music,  with  the  harp,  "  sautry," 
"  trumpette,"  "  claryowne,"  organ,  lute,  and  giterne 
to  make  an  instrumental  concert. 

Dunstable  {circa  1400-1458)  might  well  be 
styled  the  "  Father  "  of  English  contrapuntists.* 

*  Too   little   is    known    of    Odington,    the    composer   of 
*'  Sumer  is  icumen  in,"  and  also  of  the  author  of  a  famous 


DUNSTABLE   AND  HAMBOIS 


65 


As  a  theorist  he  was  not  less  famous  on  the  Con- 
tinent than  in  England — one  of  his  treatises,  De 
Mensurabili  Musica,  being  constantly  referred  to 
by  later  musicians.  Many  of  his  compositions 
can  still  be  found  in  continental  collections,  and 
these  like  his  theoretical  dissertations,  stamp  him 
as  one  of  the  masters  of  his  day.  Contemporary 
with  Dunstable  was  Hambois,  who  is  said  to  have 
been  (in  1463)  the  first  bearer  of 
the  title,  "  Doctor  of  Music." 

It  will  be  noted  that  we  learn 
more  of  the  theoretical  than  of  the 
instrumental  abilities  of  these  early 
masters,  from  which  it  would  seem 
that  the  pursuit  of  the  scientific  or 
reasoning  side  of  music  was  the 
favourite  occupation  of  musicians. 
The  fact  is,  instrumental  skill  in 
music  had  scarcely  yet  become  a 
matter  of  emulation  among  men, 
and  the  Church  Services  were  still 
in  the  hands  of  the  Roman  priests 
and  singing  monks,  so  that  but 
little  headway  was  possible  this 
while. 

Notable    English    musicians    of 
this  epoch,  however,  were  Taverner,    Menestrei   Harp 
who  composed  masses,  motets  and      of  the  Fifteenth 
anthems     now     existing    in     MS.  ;        ^°  ^^^' 
Tye,  afterwards  Queen  Elizabeth's  music  master  ; 
Fairfax,  Shepherd  and  Parsons. 

hymn  to  the  Virgin — "  Angelus  ad  Virginem  " — to  credit  them 
with  the  title.  The  date  of  this  hymn  tune,  unquestionably 
English,  has  been  approximately  fixed  at  1250-1260,  or  within 
twenty  years  of  the  famous  Northumbrian  Round  or  "  Read- 
ing," Jiota,  as  it  is  called. 


66  THE   STOKV   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 

From  1535  to  1557.  the  monasteries  were  abol- 
ished in  England,  and  this  with  Henry  VIII. 's 
Reformation  scheme,  vastly  influenced  English 
music,  inasmuch  as  with  the  accession  of  Eliza- 
beth church  musicians  found  themselves  com- 
pelled to  write  music  for  the  Reformed  Church 
services.  This  was  unquestionably  the  making 
of  the  English  School  of  Music  which  properly 
dates  from  the  golden  age  of  Elizabeth.  From 
that  time  musician  after  musician  rose  up,  each 
adding  fresh  character  and  glory  to  native  art. 
Among  the  most  influential  of  these  were  Mar- 
becke  (1523-1585),  Tallis  (1529-1585).  Byrde 
(1543-1623),  Farrant  (1538-1580),  and  Bull  (1563- 
1622) — all  particularly  identified  with  Church 
music — composed  mostly  for  the  Roman  Faith. 

It  was  at  about  this  time  that  the  orchestra 
began  to  make  a  move  in  England.  The  Violin 
had  been  introduced  in  1577  and  the  Harpsichord 
in  1610,  while  the  Organ  and  organ-playing  had 
made  great  strides.  As  an  organist  no  one  in 
Europe  could  surpass  Dr.  John  Bull.  If  we  wish 
to  realise  the  prevailing  standard  of  organ-play- 
ing a  reference  to  music  of  the  period  will  afford 
some  index.  This  must  not  be  taken  as  a  sure 
guide.  The  art  of  epctemporizing  on  the  instru- 
ment was  assiduously  practised,  and  as  Bull  lived 
after  Tallis,  who  wrote  a  Song  of  Forty  parts,  the 
art  of  fugue-playing^ust  have  been  considerable. 
In  this  we  know  Bull  excelled — 

"  The  bull  by  force  in  field  doth  raigne 
But  Bull  by  skill  good  will  doth  gayne." 

The  Musicians  Company,  too,  was  founded  in 
1604. 

The  first  English-printed  book  in  which  the 


MARBECKE  67 

science  of  music  is  mentioned  had  also  appeared. 
This  was  entitled  "  Polychronicon  "  by  Ranulph 
Higden  (1482).  Written  in  Latin  in  the  four- 
teenth century  it  contains  an  account  of  the  dis- 
covery of  the  harmonic  consonances  by  Pythag- 
oras. It  was  translated  by  Trevisa.  Caxton 
printed  the  first  English  edition. 

It  is  to  Marbecke  (or  Merbecke)  that  we  are 
indebted  for  "  The  Booke  of  Common  Praier 
Noted."  The  author  states — "In  this  booke  is 
conteyned  so  much  of  the  order  of  Common 
Praier  as  is  to  be  sung  in  Churches,  wherein  are 
used  only  these  iiii  sortes  of  notes — 


The  first  note  is  a  strene  note,  and  is  a  breve; 
the  second  is  a  square  note,  and  is  a  semi-breve ; 
the  third  is  a  prycke,  and  is  a  mynmme.  And 
when  there  is  a  prycke  by  the  square  note,  that 
prycke  is  half  as  much  as  the  note  that  goeth 
before  it.  The  iiii  is  a  close,  and  is  only  used  at 
the  end  of  a  verse."  Marbecke's  noting  is  an 
adaptation  of  the  ancient  plain-song  Latin  service 
melodies. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE       MADRIGAL ROMAN        AND        PROTESTANt 

CHURCH    MUSIC OPERA    AND    THE    OVERTURE 

We  are  nearing  the  Great  Schools  Epoch  in 
Music's  history;  but,  before  this  splendid  period 
was  reached,  the  art  passed  through  several  stages 


68 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  MUSIC 


of  growth  in  more  than  one  country.  The  ca- 
nonic or  f ugal  style — in  Italy  it  was  called  the  nuova 
musica — was  to  be  considerably  developed  before 
the  appearance  of  the  great  masters  of  music,  and 
this  work  was  accomplished  by  composers  in 
Italy,  France  and  England.  Vittoria  and  Anerio 
in  the  Roman  School,  Gabrielli  and  Croce  in  the 

{Apollo  descends  in  a  cloud,  singing-.)         MONTEVERDE. 


^^=w- 


Perch'a   lo  sdegno     ed  al  do  -  lor  in    pre  -  da         Co- 


(Apollo  and  Orfeo  ascend  to  heaven,  singing.) 

-\ — I    I    I    I — f  I    I    I    i- 


MONTEVERDE 


69 


,( 


It 


Can  - 


3^ 


Specimens  of  Monteverde's  style.     1  From  his  opera,  Or/eo.) 

Venetian,  Orlando  di  Lasso  in  the  Flemish,  and 
several  others  had  brought  Church  music,  partic- 
ularly the  Mass,  to  a  high  degree  of  perfection  ; 
so  much  so,  in  fact,  that  this  period  has  been 
styled  the  "Golden  age"  of  Mass  music.  Its 
prominent  characteristic  was  an  entire  subjuga- 
tion of  artistic  effect  for  solemn,  devout  expres- 
sion ;  and,  happily,  this  character  was  maintained 
by  musicians  of  each  country  until  it  culminated 
in  a  style  which  was  recognised  from  one  end  of 
Europe  to  the  other.  Perfect  as  these  high- 
minded  masters  of  Church  music  had  made  the 
Mass,  however,  the  art  had  to  go  further  forward. 
In  good  time,  there  arose  a  man  in  Italy  des- 
tined to  move  music  appreciably.  This  was  Mon- 
TEVERDE  (1566-1650).  For  allowing  greater  free- 
dom to  his  melodies;  inventing  fresh  combina- 
tions of  harmony  ;  and  for  disregarding  old  rules 
and  making  others  which  became  laws,  he  is  justly 
entitled  to  a  place  among  the  great  architects  of 
the  ediiice  of  musical  art.  He  was  the  first  com- 
poser to  use  the  chord  of  the  dominant  seventh 
without  first  preparing  the  seventh  (or  discord) 
of  that  chord.  He  also  improved  "  recitative  "  or 
musica  parlante.  Flemish  art  had  served  all  the 
purposes  of  mass,  motet,   and  "  service  "  music, 


7° 


THE   STORY    OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 


but  Monteverde's  fresh  harmonical  modifications, 
his  free  use  of  the  dominant  seventh  chord,  and 
the  natural  yearning  of  himself  and  countrymen 
towards  a  flowing  expressive  art,  speedily  gave  a 
new  aspect  to  Italian  music. 

After  Palestrina  and  Monteverde,  the  next 
distinguished  Italian  musician  was  Carissimi 
(1604-1674),  who  effected  marked  improvements 

4  tempo  moderato. 


So  that,  the  shipwas'like        .         .         ,         . 


.  to  be 


P 


^=zjA-=^=X 


i^^^=r=r 


^1^ 


^ 


-^-^ 


rrzrT- 


^t 


i • 1 u 


^    -t^ 


Andante 


Now    the  Lord  had  pre-par-ed  a  great  fish  to 

-I d WxA 1 ,— I 1 — V     ' 


T-    -i    -i     -t- 


POLYPHONIC  WRITING 


71 


ittrt 


-T-l-fc 


tzig^-i 


swal 


low    Jo  -  -  nah,  who  did  pray  from  out  of  the  &c 


^ 


^^= 


:itd: 


^-^ 


^" 


i^ 


From  Carissimi'syi?«aA. 


Extract  from  Double  Chorus,  "And  there 
WAS  A  Mighty  Tempest  " 


very  horrible    roar  -  ing. 


And  did 


Ig-P-*- 


*=:r=«t 


=i^^ 


^ 


very  horrible    roar  -  ing, 


And 


=P=t: 


V    V    ff 


i^-l^-c- 


3=^ 


very  horrible    roar  -  ing, 


And 


Rag'd  around 


the     ves-sel  with  a  ve-ry  horrible 


s 


N    S- 


itt 


m 


Rag'd  around  the  vessel    with 


a  very  horrible 


around  the  vessel  with  a  very  horrible 


ik:=fczfc 


S 


?=t: 


Rag'd  .  .  .   around  the  vessel  with  a  ve-ry  horrible 


72 


THE   STORY   OF   THE    ART   OF    MUSIC 


>   N  N'  -K 


zMi=Hz 


^ 


fall,         did  fall  upon  the 


ititrtr 


:S^ 


fall  upon  the  sea,  did 


-4^-fe--Mv- 


eE 


did  fall  upon  the  sea,  did 


l\^^^=^^^ 


did  (^11  upon  the  sea,  did 


And  did 


&C. 


roar  -  ing,  And  did 

From  Carissimi's  Jonah. 

in  Oratorio,  particularly  in  "  Recitative "  dra- 
matic effects,  accompaniments,  and  in  the  inven- 
tion of  the  Arioso  movement.  A  comparison  of 
his  oratorio  scores  with  those  of  the  old  Roman 
School,  immediately  before  him,  will  show  at 
once  the  value  of  his  influence  upon  vocal  music, 
particularly  in  opera  and  oratorio  where  recita- 
tive is  needed,  standing  as  it  does  in  strong  con- 
trast with  the  stilted  character  of  all  that  had 
preceded  it.     Polyphonic   writing   and   harmony 


ORCHESTRAL  ADVANCE 


73 


also  advanced  at  his  hands  as  an  examination 
of  his  oratorio,  Jonah — particularly  noticeable 
for  its  double  chorus  and  effects  of  realism — will 
show. 

Scarlatti  (1650-1725)  followed  with  im- 
provements affecting  alike  oratorio  and  opera, 
but  particularly  the  latter.  He  helped  the  art  by 
introducing  independent  movements  or  intermezzi 
for  the  orchestra,  which  would  clearly  be  of 
great  value  as  rests  for  the  vocalists.  Also  he 
considerably  improved  the  Aria,  from  which  time 
melody  began  to  receive  that  attention  which  led 
to  its  becoming  the  principal  factor  in  Italian 
opera.  After  him  came  Lotti,  Caldara,  Gasparini, 
Jomelli,  Porporo  and  Buononcini,  all  of  whom 
were  animated  with  the  desire  to  accord  greater 
prominence  to  the 
soloist  at  the  cost  of 
the  chorus  and  oth- 
er concerted  pieces. 
Thus  were  Oratorio 
and  Opera  alike 
helped  along  before 
the  appearance  of 
Bach  or  Gluck — the 
first  giants  in  these 
departments. 

The  small  begin- 
nings of  the  orches- 
tra as  an  adjunct  to 
vocal  music  were  ex- 
tending this  while.  In  his  opera,  Orfeo,  Monte- 
verde  employed  an  orchestra  of  two  Harpsi- 
chords, two  Bass  Viols,  ten  Tenor  Viols,  one 
Double  Harp,  two  small  French  Violins,  two  large 
Guitars,    two    Organs    of    Wood,    two   Viola    di 


Spinet. 


74 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 


Gamba,  four  Trombones,  one  Regal,  two  Cornets, 
one  small  Octave  Flute,  one  Clarion,  and  three 
Trumpets  with  Mutes —thirty-five  instruments  in 
all.  Seeing  that  the  orchestra  of  the  first  opera 
seria  Euridice  (1600)  consisted  of  but  four  instru- 
ments, Monteverde's  orchestra  marks  a  great  ad- 
nce  indeed. 

Mention  must  be  made  of  a  form  of  secular 
usical  art  that  was  popular,  both  in  England 
and  on  the  Continent  at  this  period — a  species  of 
musical  composition  that  prepared  the  way  for 
perhaps  the  most  delightful  aspect  of  art  that  is 
with  us  to-day,  namely  Chamber  Music;  and  one 
which  aroused  the  greatest  rivalry  among  musi- 
cians of  the  time  who  excelled  in  its  practice. 
This  was  the  ^laddgal. 

The  Madrigal  is  a  species  of  light  part  song, 
generally  of  a  pastoral  character.  Of  all  the 
lesser  forms  of  musical  composition  it  is  certainly 
the  most  delightful,  affording  as  it  does,  a  field 
for  the  union  of  both  expression  and  ingenuity  in 
composition.  This  was  a  property  which  music 
particularly  needed  at  the  time  the  Madrigal  rose 
into  favour. 

Opinions  differ  as  to  the  birthplace  of  the 
Madrigal.  Some  say  that  it  was  brought  from 
Italy ;  others,  that  it  was  born  of  the  Flemish 
School,  and  was  the  first  secular  art  form  after 
the  age  of  the  Troubadours.  The  credit  of 
originating  it  belongs  unquestionably,  we  believe, 
to  the  Netherlands  School.  One  thing  is  certain. 
Its  composition  was  practised  zealously  in  the 
Netherlands,  Italy,  and  England.  It  came  as  a 
welcome  relief  to  composers  of  the  comparatively 
restricted  Church  music,  who,  so  far  as  secular 
music  was   concerned,  had    grown    tired    of    the 


MADRIGAL 


75 


unbridled  art  of  troubadours,  minnesingers,  and 
minstrels.  There  were  three  classes  of  this  form : 
— (i)  Solo  Madrigals  with  a  "basso  continuo"; 
(2)  Madrigals  for  voices,  unaccompanied ;  (3) 
Madrigals  accompanied  by  instruments.  The 
second  class  was  the  one  that  obtained  popularity 
in  England.  The  earliest  form  of  madrigal  was 
hardly  distinguishable  from  the  motet  and 
anthem — composers  finding  difficulty,  probably, 
in  getting  away  from  the  stilted  ecclesiastical 
style.  This  stilted  character  marked  both  the 
First  and  Second  Period  madrigals,  but  the  Third 
Period  works  were  characterized  by  a  dainty 
charm,  variety  of  rhythm,  and  a  theoretical  grace 
and  play  which  made  them  perfect  samples  of 
musical  scholarship.  The  two  following  extracts 
by  Marenzio  and  Byrde  respectively  illustrate 
how  grace  and  skill  were  combined  in  this  charm- 
ing art-form — 

Marenzio. 


fe 


31 


^ 


^^^^ 


m 


S^. 


^ 


Vrz^O'i 


m, 


T-) 


f-rt 


76 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 


It.  Heav'n  lives  O  -  ri  -  a  -   na 


Byrde. 


In  Heav'n  lives 


i^ 


^i=^ 


PH^^rry^T^^^ 


In  Heav'n  lives  O-ri    -    a    -    -     na 


&C. 


J      *  *  ^- 


1 


ct 


In  Heav  n  lives  O  -  n- 

Willaert  and  Arcadelt  were  two  Flemish 
musicians  associated  with  the  early  madrigal. 
The  former  gave  to  it  its  first  artistic  form;  the 
latter  published  at  Venice  (1538)  a  "First  Book 
of  Madrigals,"  which  speedily  passed  through 
sixteen  editions.  To  this  First  Period,  or  Belgian 
School  of  Madrigalists  (1450-1500),  belong  also 
Waelrant  and  Orlando  di  Lasso,  the  composer  of 
"  Matona,  lovely  maiden,"  one  of  the  choicest 
of  early  madrigals.  With  the  steady  migration 
of  Flemish  musicians  to  Italy  this  art-form  passed 
into  a  genial  land,  at  the  hands  of  whose  sons  it 
was  destined  to  develop  a  Second  Period  (1480- 
1520).  The  imported  Flemish  madrigal  was 
seized  joyously,  and  patrician  and  plebeian  alike 
sang  them  lovingly.  The  blazoned  roof  of  palace 
—  even  the  village  osteria  —  echoed  with  their 
strains.  The  delicate  touch  of  Festa's  hand  is 
seen  in  this  brief  extract  from  his  madrigal, 
Quando  ritrovo  la  ?nia  pastor ella — 


ENGLISH   MADRIGALS 


77 


Festa. 


3B 


Down     in     a   flow'.y  vale,  All  on   a   sum-mer   morning 

..U-Jlj-J-rJ-^-J-L^   J 


=J=i: 


&c; 


^g^fE 


Marenzio  was  one  of  the  most  aecomplished 
among  Italian  madrigalists  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury. The  extract  from  his  madrigal,  Dissi  a 
Vamata,  illustrates  how  canonic  imitation  and 
other  contrapuntal  devices,  showing  advance  in 
theoretical  music,  were  drawn  into  this  form  even 
at  this  early  period.  Other  Italian  masters  who 
adorned  the  madrigal  were  Palestrina,  Ferretti, 
and  Anerio. 

The  "Golden  Age"  of  the  madrigal  was] 
reached  in  England.  This  was  its  Third  Period  { 
(1550-1650).  During  this  time  several  of  the 
brightest  names  in  English  musical  history  make 
their  appearance.  To  know  what  English  music 
might  have  been,  and  ought  to  have  been,  in 
the  nineteenth  century,  we  must  consider  well 
what  English  music  was  in  the  fifteenth  century, 
and  especially  what  it  was  in  the  Madrigalian  age. 
Musician  after  musician  adopted  this  chaste, 
classical  form  until  no  madrigals  surpassed  those 
of  English  mould,  whether  for  their  beauty  of 
expression  or  theoretical  construction.  The  first 
native  madrigalist  was  Edwardes  (1520-1566), 
whose  graceful  composition,  "  In  going  to  my 
lonely  bed,"  is  admired  to-day.  Then  came 
Byrde,  king  of  English  madrigalists. 

The  successful  madrigal  rests  not  merely  upon 
the  born  melodic  genius,  but  upon  the  inventive 


78 


THE   STORY   OF   THE    ART   OF   MUSIC 


skill  and  scholastic  wit  of  its  maker.  In  this 
respect  the  English  School  surpassed  the  world 
in  its  handling  of  ^he  madrigal — investing  it  lib- 
erally with  two  most  essential  features — namely, 
appropriate  colour  and  flavour,  combined  with 
skill  and  learning.  These  qualities  rendered  the 
form  at  once  delightful  and  ingenious. 

The  most  famous  collection  of  madrigals  is 
"The  Triumphs  of  Oriana,"  in  which  the  praises 
of  Queen    Elizabeth   are   sung   persistently — the 


Virginal. 


Queen  being  the  "  faire  Oriana."  It  is  a  monu- 
ment of  rich  musical  thought  and  genius  of  the 
Elizabethan  period,  and  contains  examples  of 
most  of  the  leading  English  madrigalists  of  the 
period.  Morley,  Wilbye,  Dowland,  Weelkes,  Kir- 
bye,  Orlando  Gibbons,  Bateson,  Benet,  and  Byrde 
all  contributed  to  it,  so  that  it  may  be  taken  as 
truly  representative  work  of  the  Third  Period 
(1550-1650)  of  the  madrigal. 

Whether  we  should  have  had  instrumental 
Chamber  Music  without  the  madrigal  might  be 
answered  in  the  affirmative;  but,  certain  it  is 
that  madrigal  music,  in  its  day,  filled  the  place 
vocally  which  Chamber  Music  now  occupies  in- 


NEW   CHURCH    MUSIC  79 

strumentally.  The  third  species  of  madrigals  were 
"apt  for  viols  and  voyces,"  or  were,  according  to 
their  Italian  titles — madrigali  coticertati  con  varie 
sorte  di  stromenti.  The  original  idea,  no  doubt, 
was  to  employ  instruments  for  the  support  of  the 
voices,  but  it  was  a  happier  thought  to  divorce 
the  two,  and  to  employ  instruments  alone  for  the 
purposes  of  concert.  This  separation  may  be 
placed  at  about  the  opening  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  from  which  time  musicians  began  to 
compose  "  Consort  Lessons,"  "  Ayres,"  "  Fancies," 
"Canzone  da  Sonare,"  etc.,  generally  in  six  parts 
— to  accord  with  the  number  of  instruments 
which  a  "  chest  of  viols"  contained.  As  might 
be  expected,  the  earliest  Chamber  Music  pieces 
were  much  like  madrigals — so  much  so,  that  if 
words  were  fitted  to  anyone  of  them,  a  good,  and 
very  often  perfectly  vocal  madrigal  would  be  the 
result.  Instrumental  music  could  not  long  stand 
still,  however,  and  a  demand  quickly  arose  for 
instrumental  pieces,  per  se — pieces  which  were 
out  of  reason  from  a  vocal  point  of  view.  These 
proved  of  less  dignity  than  the  madrigal  style 
music — being  chiefly  dance  music — "  Almaines, 
Ayres,  Corants,  Sarabands,  Moriscoes,  Jiggs,  etc." 
Eventually  these  evolved  into  Suites,  Sonatas,  etc., 
which  in  turn  grew  into  the  symphony  proper. 

Great  musical  changes  were  occurring  in  Eng- 
land the  while  the  madrigal  was  flourishing  among 
makers  and  singers  thereof.  When  adventurous 
Henry  VIII.  plunged  into  and  consummated  the 
Reformation  scheme,  it  was  at  the  expense  of 
considerable  inconvenience  to  musicians — obliged, 
perforce,  to  change  their  musical  manners  as  well 
as  their  faith.  In  double  quick  time  the  old  eccle- 
siastical music  had  to  be  cast  aside,  and  new 
6 


8o  THE   STORY  OF    THE   ART    OF   MUSIC 

church  music  substituted.  There  was  to  be  no 
more  Mass  music,  no  more  motets;  but,  in  their 
place,  a  new  music  suited  to  the  changed  religion. 
This  meant  pangs  and  hardships  to  musicians, 
possibly  not  too  industrious,  accustomed  to  the 
old  state  of  things.  Simplicity,  too,  was  the  order, 
a  change  that  must  have  made  musicians  shudder 
when  they,  like  others  before  them,  from  the  time 
of  Ockenheim,  had  regarded  the  Mass  as  the  nat- 


Virgfinal  on  Supports. 

oral  and  orthodox  vehicle  for  the  display  of  the 
contrapuntal  miracles  they  wrought. 

The  Mass,  regarded  musically,  dates  from  the 
first  years  of  the  old  religion,  when  it  was  rendered 
to  the  ancient  Plain-song  or  Canto-fer7no.  Such 
parts  of  the  Roman  liturgy  as  the  Kyrie,  Gloria, 
Credo^  Agnus  Dei,  Benedictus^_etc.,  were  set  to 
music,  and  styled  Masses.  The  older  Italian  mas- 
ters deemed  the  Plain-song  as  the  most  suitable 
music  for  the  words — Marbecke's  single  voice 
setting  is  an  example  of  this  kind;  but  it  was  not 
long  before  the  growth  of  melody  and  its  influen- 
cing properties,  together  with  advanced  theoreti- 


♦•SERVICES"  8 1 

cal  learning,  led  to  vastly  greater  freedom  on  the 
part  of  composers  of  Mass  music.  Tlie  various 
parts  of  tile  Roman  service  were  adopted  by  mu- 
sicians of  every  country  as  fields  for  the  display 
of  extreme  musical  scholarship  and  device,  until 
it  grew  impossible  for  congregations  to  take  any 
part  beyond  listening  to  them.  English  compo- 
sers before  the  Reformation  were  not  less  addicted 
to  this  love  of  display  in  their  ecclesiastical  music 
than  were  the  composers  of  Italy  and  other  coun- 
tries.    Byrde  may  be  taken  as  an  example. 

Masses  were  sung  at  first,  unaccompanied; 
but  towards  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
the  orchestra  gradually  asserted  itself,  a  simple 
instrumental  accompaniment  was  added.  This 
was  the  position  of  the  Mass  as  a  musical  compo- 
sition at  the  time  of  the  Reformation. 

Needless  to  say,  the  Mass  remained  to  the 
Roman  Church,  and  developed  considerably. w  In 
the  Anglican,  or  Protestant  Church  "  Service " 
music  took  the  place  of  the  Mass,  while  the  An- 
them displaced  the  Motet.  Capable  musicians, 
indeed,  were  the  English  masters  of  the  Tudor 
Period  who  started  composing  'Morning'  and 
'  Evening  '  "  Services  "  for  such  parts  of  the  ritual 
as  were  allowed  to  be  performed  musically — these 
portions  being  rendered  chiefly  in  the  cathedrals 
and  abbey  churches  where  musical  establishments 
were  retained  as  in  former  days.  The  framers  of 
the  new  Prayer  Book  made  little  of  music  at  the 
Service,  and  that  little  was  by  no  means  obliga- 
tory. The  Canticles  could  be  said  or  sung;  the 
Anthem  was  enjoined  to  be  sung  only  as  the 
Rubric  states — "  in  choirs  and  places  where  they 
sing."  At  present  there  were  no  Hymns,  for  al- 
though— thanks  to  Luther's  efforts  in  Germany — 


82  THE   STORY   OF   THE    ART    OF   MUSIC 

a  quiet  and  half  unconscious  preparation  for  them 
had  been  going  on,  no  Church  Hymns  had  yet 
appeared  here.  Eaglish  Church  Service  music, 
then,  was  an  altogether  new  element. 

"Service,"  as  a  musical  term,  means  a  collec- 
tion of  musical  settings  of  the  Canticles  and  other 
portions  of  the  Liturgy  which  are  by  usage  allowed 
to  be  set  to  free  composition.  With  the  Reforma- 
tion such  offices  as  Matins,  Vespers,  Mass,  etc., 
went  out  and  the  more  homely  '  Morning '  and 
*  Evening  '  "  Service  "  took  their  place.  Two 
forms  of  musical  settings  were  provided  for  these 
occasions  and  were  named  after  them,  and  when 
the  two  were  united  composers  styled  them  a 
'Full'  "Service."  These  included  musical  ar- 
rangements of  the  following:  Venite,  Te  Deuni, 
JBenedicite,  Benedictus,  Jubilate,  Kyrie  Eleison,  Nicene 
Creed,  Sancttis,  Gloria  in  Excelsis,  Magnificat,  Can- 
tate  Domino,  Nunc  Diinittis,  Dens  Alisercatur. 

To  the  words  of  these  Canticles,  etc.,  English 
composers  set  music  with  a  will — as  if  to  show 
that  though  they  had  lost  the  scope  which  Mass 
and  Motet  offered  them,  they  would  make  amends 
for  this  in  the  new  field.  The  result  was  that 
some  of  these  pieces  developed  into  quite  elaborate 
lengthy  compositions.  The  Veftite  and  the  com- 
prehensive Benedicite  omnia  opera,  for  instance, 
were  freely  treated  in  Motet  form.  This  so  un- 
duly lengthened  the  Service  that  in  course  of  time 
the  necessity  arose  to  replace  these  free  settings 
with  the  music  of  single  or  double  chants — a  most 
wise  step  which  churchmen  have  ever  since  fol- 
lowed. Tye  (1500-1560),  Tallis  (1523-1585) — 
the  chief  of  the  post-Reformation  composers — 
Byrde,  Gibbons  (1583-1625),  and  others,  speedily 
reflected  their  genius  in  this  direction — thus  the 


ANTHEM  83 

first  two  Stages  of  development  which  "  Service  " 
music  went  through,  were:  the  simple  harmonic 
and  early  contrapuntal  stages.  The  change  from 
Latin  to  English  words  seems  to  have  caused 
English  musicians  no  concern — the  transfer  in  no 
degree  affecting  their  broad  dignified  style.  Gib- 
bons' work  especially  is  characterised  by  that  true 
church  ring  which  has  ever  been  the  distinguish- 
ing feature  of  the  best  English  ecclesiastical  music. 
As  composers  treated  the  Anthem,  so  did  they 
these  Services  ;  consequently  we  find  in  them 
solos,  "verse  "  parts  and  "  full  "  portions.  A  full 
setting  from  end  to  end  would  naturally  prove 
monotonous,  although  "full  "  Anthems  and  Serv- 
ices are  by  no  means  uncommon.  The  solo  and 
verse  parts,  however,  were  not  due  altogether 
from  a  desire  for  variety.  Leading  singers  in  the 
cathedral  and  church  choirs  claimed  opportunities 
for  displaying  their  voices  in  a  solo  or  at  least  in 
a  duet,  trio,  or  quartet.  If  the  "  verse  "  parts — 
not  the  solos — were  unaccompanied  they  liked  it 
all  the  better.  The  organ  under  the  new  religion 
formed  the  only  accompaniment  to  the  singing. 

Henry  VIIL  gave  to  the  Church  the  Anthem. 
There  is  an  entry  m  the  Regulations  for  the  Royal 
Household  of  the  King  in  1526  to  the  effect  that 
"  six  boys  and  six  gentlemen  of  the  Chapel  are 
ordered  to  perform  daily,  among  other  music  the 
genesis  of  an  Anthem  in  the  afternoon." 

When  the  Anthem  supplanted  the  Motet, 
composers  for  the  new  religion  simply  adapted 
the  English  words  to  music  which  had  originally 
stood  to  Latin  Motet  words — hence  many  of  the 
Anthems  dating  from  this  first  period  of  the  Prot- 
estant Church  services.  One  such  anthem  is 
Byrde's  "  Bow  thine  Ear." 


84  THE   STORY  OF   THE   ART    OF    MUSIC 

The  Anthem  is  a  four  voiced  composition  hav- 
ing organ  and  sometimes  instrumental  accompa- 
niments. There  are  four  Icinds — the  "  Full,"  the 
"  Full  with  Verse,"  the  "  Verse,"  and  the  "  Solo," 
Anthem.  The  earliest  examples  were  of  the 
"Full  "species  and  consisted  entirely  of  chorus, 
with  or  without  organ  accompaniment.  The 
"  Full  with  Verse "  Anthem  has  solo  parts  be- 
tween the  choruses,  which  open  and  close  the 
composition,  "  Verse  "  Anthems  begin  with  por- 
tions to  be  sung  by  a  single  voice  to  a  part ;  while 
the  "Solo"  Anthem  always  concludes  with  a 
chorus  of  more  or  less  length. 

Springing  from  the  Motet  of  the  Roman 
Church,  we  get  the  name  of  the  first  division  of 
the  three  into  which  the  history  of  Anthem  de- 
velopment is  arranged — namely,  the  Motet  period 
which  lasted  from  1530  to  1650.  Later  English 
composers  carried  the  composition  of  the  Anthem 
to  a  great  pitch  of  excellence,  notably  Henry 
Purcell  and  Samuel  Sebastian  Wesley. 

Opera  again  claims  attention.  It  must  not  be 
forgotten  that  in  the  early  operas  there  was 
scarcely  any  difference  between  the  Church  music 
of  the  period  and  the  operas.*  The  choruses 
were  in  the  madrigal  style.  So  agreeable  a  mu- 
sical form,  however,  was  hardly  likely  to  stand 
still — nor  did  it.  Opera  and  Oratorio  parted  in 
Monteverde's  day — each  to  go  on  its  own  way. 
Monteverde  carried  Italian  opera  to  the  borders 
of   that   almost    limitless    field   where   the   great 

*  Oratorio  and  opera  were  singularly  alike.  Each  had 
recitative,  aria,  duet,  sometimes  trio,  quartet,  quintet,  etc.,  and 
a  chorus.  The  instrumental  accompaniments  of  one  would 
have  served  equally  well  for  the  other — not  only  as  regards 
quantity  but  also  in  calibre  and  even  character. 


^ 


OPERA   AND   OVERTURE  8$ 

melodists  and  colourists  of  music  took  it  up. 
Then  Scarlatti,  as  we  have  seen,  brought  his  im- 
provements to  bear  upon  the  aria.  His  widest 
dreams,  probably,  never  led  him  up  to  the  thought 
of  a  Verdi,  or  a  Wagner  !  In  1645  Cardinal  Ma- 
zarin  introduced  Italian  opera  into  France,  with 
the  result  that  in  1659  Cambert  produced  La  Pas- 
torale— the  first  accepted  French  opera.  In  1627 
the  first  German  opera  tnX.\i\&(M)ap/ii!e,  composed 
by  Schutz  (1585-1672),  appeared;  while,  some 
fifty  years  later  (1673),  the  first  English  opera, 
Psyche,  was  produced.  All  these  early  operas 
bore  striking  resemblance  in  every  way  to  their 
Italian  models. 

It  was  in  France  that  Opera  was  to  take  firm- 
est root.  Cambert  was  followed  by  Lully  (1633- 
1687)  who,  from  a  position  as  kitchen  scullion, 
rose  to  be  chief  musician  to  Louis  XIV.  Lully 
left  his  mark  upon  French  Opera,  for  he  discarded 
the  characteristic  Italian  air  and  duet,  extended 
the  chorus,  introduced  the  ballet,  and  invented 
the  overture.  With  these  modifications,  and  in 
addition  fresh  national  colourings  and  surround- 
ings, greater  freedom  orchestrally  as  such  instru- 
ments as  the  serpent,  harpsichord,  clarinet^  etc., 
were  invented,  it  is  not  surprising  that  French 
Opera  soon  became  a  different  thing  from  its 
Italian  predecessors,  which  were  conventional  in 
form  and  lacking  in  dramatic  expression.  Ra- 
meau  (1683-1764),  Gretry  (1741-1813),  Mehul 
(1763-1817),  Boieldieu  (i  775-1 834) — all  identified 
themselves  with  dramatic  lyric  art.  Rameau  in- 
troduced greater  variety  both  of  harmony  and 
melody,  vocally  and  orchestrally.  Gretry  put 
more  expression  and  humour  into  opera,  con- 
siderably strengthening  it  vocally. 


86  THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF    MUSIC 

The  Comic  Opera  or  opera-bouffe,  more  popular 
in  England  at  the  present  time  than  opera  seria^ 
sprang  up  as  might  be  expected  in  France. 
Strangely  it  was  not  born  of  the  French  people, 
but  of  some  Italians — a  body  of  whom  in  1752 
went  into  France,  played  these  light  comic  ele- 
ment operas  which  became  immediately  popular. 
The  French  people  called  the  company  Les  Bouf- 
fons.  (rretry  seized  upon  the  idea  and  wrote 
work  after  work  in  the  new  style,  displaying 
great  talent  in  catching  and  utilising  all  the 
subtle  points  of  expression  and  humour  which  his 
libretti  afforded.  Old  French  comic  opera  was 
not  as  free,  however,  as  Opera  Coviique  to-day — it 
was  simple,  elegant,  full  of  point — not  suggestive. 

.\s  the  Overture  which  LuUy  invented  was  the 
precursor  of  the  Symphony,  its  growth  and  de- 
velopment should  be  known.  The  preliminary 
music  to  any  composition  may  be  called  an  over- 
ture, and  the  ancient  overtures  were  little  more 
than  slight  introductory  symphonies.  In  time, 
these  introductions  for  instruments  grew — and 
the  old  overtures  settled  themselves  into  two 
classes — the  Lully  and  Scarlatti  overtures.  While 
the  Scarlatti  overture  consisted  of  three  move- 
ments or  sections,  Lully's  were  generally  com- 
posed in  two  parts.  The  opening  movement  was 
usually  an  adagio — a  slow  stately  movement;  the 
second  part  consisted  of  a  lively  minuet  or  fugue 
which  concluded  the  overture.  Handel,  Bach, 
Graun,  and  most  of  the  early  eighteenth  century 
composers  adopted  this  form.  The  modern  over- 
ture appeared  towards  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  It  bears  most  resemblance  to  the  first 
movement  of  a  sonata  or  symphony.  Very  fre- 
quently its  principal   themes  are  taken  from  the 


PASSION   MUSIC  87 

work  to  which  it  is  an  introduction.  Weber  is 
credited  with  originating  the  idea  of  incorpora- 
ting in  the  overture,  the  leading  themes  of  the 
body-work,  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  Mozart  an- 
ticipated this  in  his  Don  Giovanni  overture  (1787). 
Nowadays  we  have  overtures  which  are  dis- 
tinct orchestral  pieces  known  as  "  Concert  Over- 
tures," for  concert  purposes  ;  for  instance,  Beetho- 
ven's "Weihe  des  Hauses,"  Mendelssohn's  "Mid- 
summer Night's  Dream,"  Schumann's  "  Julius 
Caesar,"  Berlioz's  "  Les  Francs  Juges,"  Sterndale 
Bennett's  "  Parisina,"  etc.  These  are  the  out- 
come of  the  development  and  understanding  of 
musical  form — especially  the  "  Sonata "  form. 
Between  these  and  the  overture  as  fixed  by 
Mozart  come  many  improvements — notably  Che- 
rubini's  gradual  and  prolonged  crescendo;  Beetho- 
ven's disregard  of  stereotyped  themes,  combined 
with  immense  dramatic  element,  and  fugal  re- 
source ;  and  not  least,  Weber's  local  colour  paint- 
ing for  the  orchestra. 


CHAPTER    VI 

PASSION    MUSIC BACH    AND    HANDEL PERFECTED 

ORATORIO 

Between  Protestant  Church  Song  and  the 
Oratorio  as  developed  by  the  masters  of  German 
music  is  a  connecting  link  in  Passion  Music.  Be- 
fore considering  the  subject  of  Passion  Music, 
however,  we  should  remember  that  we  here  enter 
upon  the  Great  Schools  Period  in  Music's  history 
—that  date  in  musical  art  when  the  epoch  makers 


8S  THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 

of  music  lived  and  worked  ;  the  era  when  Music 
was  Hfted  to  its  high  estate  of  sisterhood  with 
Painting  and  Literature;  the  age  when  Classical 
art  was  indubitably  and  permanently  established; 
when  oratorio,  symphony,  chamber-music  and 
opera  were  raised  to  their  highest  pitch  of  excel- 
lence and  development — a  height  to  which  it 
would  seem  that  subsequent  generations  of  musi- 
cians can  but  aspire,  nor  ever  reach;  unless,  in- 
deed, there  are  behind  us  men  of  greater  genius 
than  the  accepted  "  Masters  "  of  music. 

Bach  (1685-1750)  the  first  of  the  great  mas- 
ters of  the  German  School,  particularly  identified 
himself — though  he  was  not  the  first  composer  to 
do  so — with  the  settings  of  the  "  Passion  "  epi- 
sodes in  the  life  of  our  Saviour.  In  Bach,  how- 
ever. Passion  Music  reached  perfection.  Born  of 
rare  musical  stock,  he,  as  a  boy  was  a  fine  treble 
singer  in  the  choir  at  Liineberg,  and  his  environ- 
ment remained  one  of  Church  work  for  practically 
the  whole  of  his  long  career.  The  life  and  char- 
acter of  Bach  furnish  one  of  the  grandest  pictures 
in  the  world's  work  history.  He  worked  for  art 
— and  art  alone.  His  greatest  compositions  never 
saw  the  light  of  publication  during  his  lifetime; 
he  seemed  to  compose  just  because  he  obeyed 
the  inward  spirit  of  genius  which  drove  him  on- 
ward, and  although  his  chamber  works  became 
fairly  well-known,  his  larger  compositions  were 
rarely  performed  outside  the  church  or  place  for 
which  they  were  composed.  From  first  to  last  it 
was  a  career  of  direst  monotony;  his  genius  was 
unrewarded  absolutely  during  his  lifetime. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-three  Bach  was  Court 
Organist  at  Weimar,  from  which  time  his  fame  as 
an  organist  and  harpsicho'-d  player  speedily  spread 


PASSION   MUSIC  89 

over  the  German  States.     In  1723  the  important 
post  of  Cantor  of  St  Thomas'  School,  Leipsic,  be- 


German  Organ  Bellows  of  the  Sixteenth  Century. 
From  an  old  print. 


came  vacant,  and  to  this  Bach  was  appointed.    He 
pursued  his  work  as  well  as  he  could  in  the  face 


9° 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART    OF   MUSIC 


of  great  difficulties,  mainly  arising  from  the  stupid 
conventionalities  of  the  authorities.  Bach,  of  all 
musicians,  was  a  stnsible  man.  Modest  in  the 
extreme,  he  never  seemed  to  realise  how  much 
greater  he  was  than  all  the  musicians  he  was  for 
ever  praising.  His  character  was  amiable  in  the 
extreme — albeit  one  that  commanded  respect  from 
all;  while  no  family  was  ever  more  united  than 
were  the  Bachs. 

As  an  organist  he  was  unrivalled.  "  J.  S. 
Bach  " — as  described  by  the  poet  Schubart — 
"  was  a  genius  of  the  highest  order  ;  his  soul  so 
peculiar,  so  gigantic,  that  centuries  will  have  to 
pass  before  he  is  reached  by  anyone.  He  played 
the  clavier,  the  fliigel,  the  cymbal,  with  equal 
creative  power,  and  the  organ — who  is  like  him  ? 
who  will  ever  equal  him?  His  fist  was  gigantic; 
he  could,  for  example,  stretch  a  12th  with  the 
left  hand,  and  perform  running  passages  between 
with  the  three  minor  fingers;  he  made  pedal  runs 
with  the  greatest  possible  exactness ;  he  drew 
the  stops  so  silently  that  the  hearer  almost  sank 
under  the  magic  effect ;  his  hand  was  never 
weary,  and  lasted  out  through  a  whole  day's 
organ  playing.  .  .  .  What  Newton  was  as  a 
philosopher,  Bach  was  as  a  musician.  He  had 
such  wealth  of  ideas,  that  no  one  except  his 
own  great  son  can  come  near  him ;  and  with 
all  this  he  combined  also  the  rarest  talent  as  a 
teacher." 

If  we  append  here  a  specification  of  an  organ 
that  Bach  played  upon — such  as  he  was  often 
called  upon  to  "  examine,"  "  pass,"  and  "  open  " — • 
the  reader  will  be  able  to  form  some  idea  of  the 
vast  strides  organ  building  had  made  since  we 
left  the  instrument  with  Dr.  John  Bull.     Here  is 


BACH 


91 


the  scheme  of  Bach's  favourite  organ  at  the  Uni- 
versity Church  in  Leipsic — * 


Great 


1.  Principal  (open  diapason),     16  feet. 

2.  Quintaton,        ,         .         .       16     " 

3.  Principal  (open  diapason 

4.  Schalmei, 

00  00 

5.  German  Flute, 

8     ' 

6.  Gemshorn, 

8     ' 

7.  Octave,     . 

4     ' 

8.  Quinte,     . 

3     * 

9.  Quintnasat, 

3     ' 

10.  Octavina, 

2     ' 

II.  Waldflote, 

2     * 

12.  Mixture, 

5  and  6  ranks 

13.  Cornet,     . 

3  ranks. 

14.  Zink, 

2     " 

Brustwerk 

I.  Principal, 

8  feet. 

2.  Gamba,     . 

8     * 

3.  Grobgedacht,  . 

4.  Octave,     . 

8     ' 
4     ' 

5.  Rohrflote, 

4     * 

6.  Octave  (fifteenth),  . 

7.  Nasat, 

2     * 
2     ' 

8,  Sedesima, 

I     * 

9.  Schweizer  Pfeife, 

I     ' 

10.  Largo  (Number  of  feet  nc 

11.  Mixture,  . 

)t  stated). 

3  ranks. 

12.  Clear  Cymbal, 

2     " 

*  The  Swell  organ  by  Jordan  was  introduced  in  1712, 
since  which  time  improvement  has  followed  improvement, 
until  now  what  with  pneumatic  actions  and  other  inventions, 


92 


THE   STORY    OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 


Third  Manual 


I. 

Lieblich  Gedacht,     . 

8 

feet. 

2. 

Quintaton, 

8 

3- 

Flute  douce,     . 

.      -  4 

4- 

Quinta  Decima, 

4 

5- 

Decima  Nona, 

3 

6. 

Hohlflote, 

2 

7- 

Viola, 

2 

8. 

Vigesima  Nona, 

.       H 

9- 

Weitpfeife, 

I 

lO. 

Mixture,  . 

3 

ranks. 

II. 

Helle  Cymbal, 

2 

feet. 

12. 

Sertin, 

Pedal 

8 

<( 

I. 

Principal, 

1 6  feet. 

2. 

Quintaton, 

i6 

(( 

3- 

Octave,     ... 

8 

(( 

4- 

Octave,     . 

4 

iC 

5- 

Quinte,     . 

3 

(I 

6. 

Mixture,  . 

5  and  6  ranks. 

7- 

Quinton-bass,  . 

6  feet. 

8. 

Jubal, 

8 

9- 

Nachthorn, 

4 

lO. 

Octave,     . 

2 

II. 

Second  Principal,     . 

i6 

12. 

Sub-bass, 

i6 

13- 

Pozaune, 

i6 

14- 

Trompete, 

8 

15- 

Hohlflote, 

I 

i6. 

Mixtur,     . 

4 

the  modem  instrument  appears  to  have  reached  perfection. 
What  it  needs  most  is  more  durable  and  better  bellows,  im- 
pervious to  damp,  and  uninviting  to  rodents  ! 


BACH  93 

Bach  as  a  composer  best  helps  us  along  in 
our  story.  The  music  of  the  Choral  was  brought 
to  perfection  by  him — even  to  the  development 
of  Chorale-Cantatas,  of  which  he  wrote  a  vast 
number.  In  these  compositions  which  are  sim- 
ply astonishing  in  their  enormous  fertility  of  in- 
vention, their  variety  of  detail  and  their  unity  of 
purpose,  a  complete  hymn  was  carried  out,  each 
verse  forming  as  a  rule  a  separate  movement 
whether  for  chorus  or  solo  voices,  though  occa- 
sionally a  verse  is  omitted  in  the  longer  hymns. 
Sometimes  recitatives  break  th6  course  of  the 
Chorale  melody  or  the  melody  is  played  by  the 
instruments  and  accompanied  by  vocal  recitative. 

From  the  Chorale-Cantata  to  a  larger  form  in 
the  shape  of  Passion  Music  was  not  a  great  leap 
— yet  naturally  as  it  followed  upon  the  Protestant 
Choral.,  it  constituted  the  important  link  between 
simple  German  Church  Song  and  those  grand 
choral  conceptions  which  Handel  gave  to  the 
world  in  his  Oratorios. 

Passion  Music  may  be  described  as  music  set 
to  the  narrative  of  our  Lord's  Passion  in  the 
Gospels.  It  was  an  old  Christian  idea — a  very 
good  one — to  celebrate  the  Holy  Week,  and 
Luther  encouraged  the  practice.  In  ancient 
times  the  Gospel  narrative  was  chanted  by  one 
singer,  the  speeches  of  Jesus  by  another,  while 
a  third  represented  the  people  or  turbcs — all  with- 
out an  attempt  at  any  dramatic  element.  In  the 
early  Passion  Services  of  the  Reformed  Church 
in  Germany  the  people's  part  was  allotted  to  a 
chorus.  Then,  short  instrumental  pieces  were 
gradually  introduced  at  convenient  points  of  the 
narrative;  until,  subsequently,  Gese  (1585),  Schutz, 
Keiser,  and  Sebastian!  (1672)  in  turn  incorporated 


94 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  MUSIC 


further  musical  additions  and  improvements.  In 
Sebastiani's  Passion  appears  for  the  first  time 
the  artistic  use  of  hymn  tunes,  the  narrative  is  in 
recitative  instead  of  plain-song,  and  there  is  an 
accompaniment  for  two  violins  and  bass — the 
first  example  of  instrumental  accompaniment  in 
a  Passion  Music.  The  Uirba  are  in  four  voice 
chorus,  and  a  fifth  part,  a  high  tenor  one,  is  for 
the   Evangelist — who   narrates    to    a   continuous 


F 


f^''"'" 


.(O?-'- 


Clavichord  or  Clarichord. 

accompaniment  of  two  violins,  four  violas  and  a 
bass.  The  melodies  of  the  hymns  only  are  sung, 
the  remaining  parts  being  ordered  to  be  played 
by  the  stringed  instruments. 

Bach  came  to  lift  Passion  Music  to  a  far 
higher  plane  than  it  had  been  before — one  that 
no  other  composer  has  reached  with  this  class 
of  music.  He  wrote  in  all  five  Passions,  but 
only  three  of  these  are  now  accessible — the 
settings  of  the  Matthew,  John  and  Luke  Gospels, 
and  the  latter  is  of  doubtful  authenticity.  The 
Mattheiv  Pdssion  is  undoubtedly  the  finest  work 


THE  MATTHEW   PASSION  95 

— indeed  Bach's  chef  axuvre.  In  it  he  follows  the 
Sebastian!  model,  but  with  his  master  mind  en- 
riches and  ennobles  everything  beyond  measure. 
He  adds  new  forms — great  double  choruses  of 
immense  dramatic  power,  exquisitely  expressive 
solos  with  most  delicate  instrumental  accompani- 
ments, harmonised  chorales — all  culminating  to 
form  a  work  of  unrivalled  genius,  scholarship, 
and  piety. 

Not  the  least  among  the  deviations  in  Bach's 
Passion  Music  was  the  calling  upon  the  congre- 
gation to  sing  the  Chorales — thus  giving  wor- 
shippers a  lively  interest  in  the  proceedings,  and 
in  this  way  probably  making  Passion  Music  a 
thing  for  all  time,  although  it  will  be  noted  that 
this  method  was  not  followed  in  Oratorio. 

The  so-called  Christmas  Oratorio  (1734)  can 
hardly  be  styled  an  Oratorio,  as  it  consists  rather 
of  six  cantatas  to  be  sung  on  successive  days 
during  the  Christmas  season.  The  same  may 
be  said  of  his  Easter  Oratorio— %o  that  Bach  was 
not,  strictly  speaking,  an  Oratorio  composer.  He 
wrote  works  of  various  kinds,  vocal  and  instru- 
mental— but  nothing  approaching  nearer  to  an 
Oratorio  than  his  great  Matthew  Passiojt  Music. 

After  the  John  Passion  Music,  his  next  most 
important  vocal  work  is  the  Mass  in  B  Minor. 
From  beginning  to  end  it  is  on  a  gigantic  scale — 
each  movement  being  a  masterpiece;  but  like  his 
other  Masses  it  is  more  scholarly  than  beautiful, 
or  even  religious.  As  Hilgenfeldt  says — "This 
mass  is  one  of  the  noblest  works  of  Art,  full  of 
inventive  genius,  depth  of  feeling,  and  astonish- 
ing artistic  power  ;  there  is  no  other  of  the  same 
calibre  that  can  be  compared  to  it.  .  .  .  It  is  pos- 
sible that  a  Protestant  artist  such  as  he  was  could 


96  THE   STORY   OF    THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 

not  entirely  enter  into  the  religious  point  of  view 
which  he  was  obliged  to  take  in  composing  for 
the  Catholic  Church."*  It  is  an  extremely  inter- 
esting work  historically,  inasmuch  as  its  Credo 
exhibits  one  of  the  most  remarkable  examples  on 
record  of  tiie  treatment  of  an  ancient  canto  fermo 
with  modern  harmonies  and  elaborate  orchestra- 
tion. 

Bach's  instrumental  compositions  include 
works  for  the  orchestra,  organ,  cembalo,  clavi- 
chord, spinet,  etc.  Of  these  the  Wohltemperirte 
Clavier  is  universally  known.  There  is  no  work 
for  the  keyboard  like  it,  and  Bach  was  quite  right 
in  appraising  highly  its  educational  value. f  As 
every  pianist  and  organist  knows  the  complete 
work  forms  a  set  of  preludes  and  fugues  through 
all  tones  and  semitones,  both  with  major  and  minor 
thirds.  The  term  "  well-tempered  "  refers  to  the 
equal  temperament  J  of  which  Bach  was  so  strong 
an  advocate,  and  many  of  the  pieces  would  be 
impossible  with  any  other  system  of  tuning.  In 
this  work  Bach  performed  a  great  service  in  em- 
phasising his  system  of  "  Fingering  " — the  art  of 
playing  and  using  the  fingers  properly  upon  a 
keyed  instrument.  He  disregarded  the  accepted 
principles,  and  employed  both  thumb  and  little 
finger  as  frequently  as  the  other  fingers. 

This   master    certainly    took    music    forward 

*  Bach,  "  Leben  Wirken  und  Werke,"  p.  115. 

f  My  organ  master,  the  talented  Augustus  L.  Tamplin, 
inscribed  the  following  in  my  copy  ; — This  book  contains  the 
elements  of  all  music:  Bible:  Religion,  Euclid:  Mathe- 
matics, Bach :   Music. 

X  This  is  a  recondite  subject — too  abstruse  to  discuss 
here,  buf  it  is  admirably  explained  under  the  word  Tempera- 
ment in  Stainer  and  Barrett's  "  Dictionary  of  Musical  Terms." 


BACH'S  "FINGERING"  97 

vastly.  Apart  from  all  that  his  great  mind  spoke, 
he  developed  the  technical  aspects  of  the  art  to 
an  enormous  degree.  In  his  Matthew  Passion 
and  the  Cantata,  Ein  feste  Burg,  will  be  found 
massive  choruses  which  fully  represent  his  grand 
style.  The  orchestra  of  the  Cantata  contains 
three  trumpets,  one  flute,  two  oboes,  one  oboe  di 
caccia,  two  violins,  viola,  violoncello,  organ,  and 
figured  bass.  His  method  with  orchestral  instru- 
ments almost  invariably  was  to  make  each  play 
an  independent  counterpoint — thus  his  scores 
show  as  many  contrapuntal  parts  as  there  are 
voices  and  instruments  employed.  This  poly- 
phonic texture  is  often  destructive  to  perspicuity, 
but  his  constant,  earnest,  and  lofty  tone  counter- 
balances this  characteristic.  Examined,  side  by 
side,  with  that  of  his  contemporaries  his  orches- 
tral style  is  as  different  as  it  is  advanced  in  the 
method  of  orchestration.  The  skilful  manner  of 
his  instrumentation  proves  him  to  have  been  far 
in  advance  of  his  time  ;  and,  although  it  is  not  as 
clear,  natural,  and  rich,  as  that  of  Haydn  and 
Mozart,  it  is  exquisitely  quaint  and  beautiful. 

His  passion  for  contrapuntal  exercise  and  in- 
genuity has  made  him  a  troublesome  writer  for 
vocalists.  Though  always  fervent  and  generally 
beautiful,  his  vocal  parts  are  emphatically  un- 
vocal,  suitable  enough  for  execution  on  instru- 
ments but  not  by  the  human  voice.  Strange, 
indeed,  that  his  contemporary,  Handel,  should 
be  unsurpassed  to-day  for  his  splendid  vocal 
writing  while  Bach  is  wholly  the  reverse.  It 
can  only  be  accounted  for  in  his  life-long,  dull, 
clogged  environment.  Summed  up,  Bach's  music 
is  unequalled — perhaps  unapproached — in  its 
peculiar  style.     The  reader  will  easily  perceive 


98  THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 

the  development  in  polyphonic  and  orchestral 
art  by  a  comparison  of  Bach's  scores  with  say 
Carissimi's  Jonah. 

Handel  (1685-1759)  was  contemporary  with 
Bach ;  but  the  "  mighty  Saxon  "  was  a  cosmo- 
politan who  found  opportunities  for  learning  all 
he  could  of  the  conditions  of  music.  At  the  age 
of  twenty-one  he  went  to  Italy — threw  his  heart 
and  soul  into  opera — and  in  the  end  found  him- 
self the  composer  of  at  least  fifty  operas — none 
of  which  are  heard  to-day !  The  story  of  his 
childhood;  his  father's  attempts  to  "break"  him 
off  music;  his  early  appointments  as  violinist 
and  harpsichordist  in  the  German  Opera;  his 
visits  to  Italy  and  then  to  England,  in  order  to 
"run  "  Italian  music — which,  as  rendered  by  Ital- 
ian singers,  had  influenced  the  whole  of  Europe; 
his  well-nigh  life-long  struggle  with  Italian  Opera 
in  England;  his  physical  and  financial  collapse 
through  the  failing  of  his  operatic  schemes — all 
this  is  known  well  enough.  We  start  with  the 
fact  that  he  was  fifty-five  years  old  before  he  be- 
gan to  compose  that  series  of  oratorios  or  sacred 
dramas  by  which  he  is  immortalized. 

It  was  in  1706  that  Handel  visited  Florence. 
He  produced  Rodrigo  there  in  the  following  year, 
and  in  1708  Agrippina  appeared  at  Venice.  It 
had  eight  characters,  a  chorus,  and  orchestra  of 
trumpets,  drums,  flutes,  and  the  usual  stringed 
instruments.  What  made  the  greatest  impression 
was  the  fulness  and  dignity  of  Handel's  music, 
particularly  in  the  overture,  which  struck  the 
Italians  greatly.  Taking  up  opera  as  he  found 
it,  he  attempted  no  reforms,  but  embellished  it 
with    the    force   of   his   dignified   style,  superior 


HANDEL  95 

vocal  writing  and  brilliant  orchestration  ;  and 
there  is  no  doubt  that  Handel's  operas  were 
superior  to  anything  that  the  Italians  had  made 
themselves  or  that  they  had  heard  before.  The 
accepted  form  was  a  work  of  three  acts,  each 
divided  into  scenes.  The  scene  must  perforce 
end  with  an  aria,  for  the  audience  who  came  to 
hear  its  favourite  singers  would  not  tolerate 
choruses;  if  one  was  permitted  it  was  at  the 
close  of  the  last  act,  and  then  only  by  the  com- 
bined voices  of  all  the  characters.  The  "  scenes  " 
consisted  of  recitative  followed  by  an  aria,  and 
the  arias  were  of  several  classes.  Everything 
depended  upon  getting  the  best  solo  singers  and 
instruments — and  each  singer  expected,  some- 
times demanded — one  or  more  songs  to  herself 
or  himself. 

Opening  with  an  overture  as  established  hj 
Lully,  recitative,  aria  and  "  scena  "  went  on  until 
the  (we  should  imagine  welcome)  close.  The 
arias  in  form  were  much  as  Scarlatti  left  them. 
It  was  the  quality  of  his  arias  and  the  depth  of 
Handel's  orchestration  that  assisted  his  operas. 
The  foundation  of  Handel's  opera  orchestra  was 
the  strings  and  the  harpsichord.  To  these  he 
added  oboes,  generally  in  unison  with  the  strings 
and  bassoons,  with  the  string  basses.  But  he  had 
no  fixed  system.  Trumpets,  drums,  horns,  flutes 
(including  the  flute  a  bee),  the  viol  da  gamba, 
theorbo,  harp  and  organ — all  were  requisitioned 
as  his  mighty  genius  dictated.  His  free  and  de- 
scriptive song  accompaniments,  with  their  beau- 
tiful obbligato  parts  and  choice  devices  for  brass, 
reed  and  string  instruments  must  have  charmed 
listeners  unaccustomed  to  such  skilled  and  ad- 
vanced orchestration. 


lOO         THE  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  MUSIC 

Handel  wrote,  besides  his  operas  and  ora- 
torios, serenatas,  odes,  church  music,  vocal  cham- 
ber music,  and  instrumental  music.  His  orato- 
rios, however,  are  his  masterpieces,  and  of  these 
he  composed  twenty-three  in  all.  If  his  operas 
are  out  of  date  and  antiquated,  this  cannot  be 
said  of  his  settings  of  Holy  Writ,  some  of  which 
are  immortal.  What  impelled  him  to  write  Ora- 
toriil  Force  of  circumstances  chiefly.  He  was 
crushed — ruined  in  health  by  his  operatic  ven- 
tures. Handel,  though,  was  a  man  of  indomi- 
table will,  and  he  had  a  constitution  of  iron. 
With  returning  health  he  determined  to  try  the 
public  with  Oratorio  —  a  thing  after  his  own 
heart. 

It  was  in  1739  that  Handel  took  the  Haymar- 
ket  Theatre  for  the  purpose  of  giving  oratorio 
performances  twice  a  week.  In  the  previous  year 
he  had  composed  Saul — this  in  less  than  three 
months — and  he  opened  with  it.  The  success  of 
Sau/ wa.s  complete,  and  decided  Handel  to  devote 
his  whole  attention  to  oratorio.  It  was  a  grand 
move,  because  this  masterful  man  possessed  all 
the  qualities  necessary  to  command  success.  He 
was  a  born  ruler;  his  skill  as  an  organist  was 
only  shadowed  by  his  powers  as  a  composer; 
withal  the  great  middle  class  English  public  then, 
as  now  had  ears  and  hearts  for  stories  from  the 
Bible,  adorned  with  such  tone  painting  as  Handel 
laid  on. 

In  the  score  of  Sau/  there  appears  at  the  end 
of  the  second  of  the  four  movements  this  note, 
Orgamim  ad  libitum.  Here  the  mighty  genius 
stepped  in  and  gave  one  of  those  grand  extem- 
pore performances,  in  which  he  was  unrivalled. 
Oh!    that    one    could    have    heard    him.     Thus 


THE   MESSIAH  lOI 

was  oratorio  brought  by  him  to  the  height  of  ex- 
cellence: thus  was  it  planted  for  all  time  in  Eng- 
land. 

Israel  in  Egypt,  composed  in  the  marvellously 
short  space  of  twenty-seven  days,  followed  Saul, 
and  so  on,  as  the  demands  of  the  public  called  for 
them,  came  Samson,  Judas  Maccabcetis,  Joshua, 
Solomon,  Theodora,  Jephtha,  and  other  sublime 
works. 

The  Messiah  is  Handel's  masterpiece.  Can  it 
be  easily  conceived  that  the  imperishable  pro- 
duction was  written  in  twenty-three  days!  Its 
first  performance  took  place  at  Dublin  "for  the 
relief  of  the  prisoners  in  the  several  gaols,  and  for 
the  support  of  Mercer's  Hospital  and  the  Chari- 
table Infirmary  " — a  most  appropriate  connection. 
It  was  Handel's  own  wish  to  offer  it  '"to  that 
generous  and  polite  nation,"  as  he  termed  the 
Irish  people,  and  he  was  justified.  "  The  sublime, 
the  grand,  and  the  tender,  adapted  to  the  most 
elevated,  majestic  and  moving  words,  conspired 
to  transport  and  charm  the  ravished  heart  and 
ear."  No  wonder  it  towers  above  all  the  other 
works  of  Handel.  He  wrote  it  in  the  very  midst 
of  his  misery  and  bankruptcy,  with  his  earnest- 
ness at  white  heat  over  the  enormousness  of  his 
subject.  His  ideal  was  the  loftiest  possible, 
and  in  The  Messiah  he  gave  the  public  the 
very  best  music  that  he  could  pen.  Heart  and 
soul  were  in  his  work,  so  that  when  he  wrote 
the  glorious  "Hallelujah"  Chorus  his  religious 
exaltation  was  such  that  he  could  exclaim,  "I 
did  think  I  did  see  all  Heaven  before  me, 
and  the  Great  God  Himself."  God  surely  was 
with  him. 

The  Alessiah  supplies  the  perfection  of  oratorio, 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 


Handel's  examples  in  this  field  constituting  the 
most  remarkable  creations  in  the  whole  range  of 
musical  science.  The  massive  choruses,  the  power- 
ful solos  and  recitative  in  which  the  highest  skill 
of  composer  and  performer  are  called  forth,  have 
been  equalled  by  no  other  composer.  Whether 
we  stay  to  admire  its  varied  tonal-imagery,  its  or- 
chestration, its  splendid  vocal  parts  in  solo  and 
chorus,  or  the  entire  general  handling  of  the  great 
religious  theme,  we  are  filled  with  wonder  and 
ecstasy.  Without  the  common  sensational  ele- 
ments of  dramatic  unity  and  style — with  little 
coherence  of  story,  it  yet  possesses  features  of 
the  most  powerful  kind — one  full  of  diversity 
of  sentiment — the  lively,  the  pastoral,  the  ten- 
der, the  sombre,  the  pathetic,  the  grand  and 
sublime. 

Up  to  Handel's  day  the  stern,  severe,  colour- 
less   style  of   Palestrina    had   reigned   in   sacred 

music  for  two  hun- 
dred years.  Handel, 
with  his  wealth  of 
colour  and  dramatic 
expression,  put  a  new 
face  upon  religious 
music.  His  tone- 
\.  ^  ^^gr  -xff  I  -  painting  was  a  reve- 
^...      I  i     ^*~      lation  to  his  age,  and 

found  the  starting 
point  from  which 
vaster  results  were 
to  follow  in  works 
by  Beethoven,  Schu- 
mann and  others. 
Every  shade  of  expression  will  be  found  studded 
throughout   his   oratorios — great    tone    pictures, 


Orchestral  Drums. 


HANDEL'S    ORCHESTRATION  103 

such  as  the  sun  standing  still,  a  darkness  to  be 
felt,  the  Red  Sea  cleft  by  a  miracle,  shepherds 
abiding  in  the  fields,  etc. 

For  that  nervous,  dignified  energy  which  char- 
acterises his  music  he  is  largely  indebted  to  the 
English  Cathedral  composers  whose  works  he 
studied — Purcell  particularly. 

Handel  believed  in  large  orchestras — say  of 
twelve  first  and  twelve  second  violins,  four  bas- 
soons, four  violoncellos,  two  harpsichords,  oboes, 
flutes,  and  side  drums — plus  an  organ  at  which  he 
presided  when  not  conducting.  He  did  not  in- 
crease the  material  of  instrumentation,  but  his 
manipulation  of  it,  his  original  and  beautiful  util- 
isation of  the  various  instruments,  whether  in  ob- 
bligato  accompaniment  or  in  chorus,  carried  or- 
chestration far  ahead. 

His  tremendous  choruses  rise  grandly  over 
everything  of  their  kind.  Their  vastness,  contra- 
puntal ingenuity  and  descriptive  character  are 
amazing — yet,  learned  as  they  are,  they  offer  no 
insuperable  vocal  difficulties,  so  well  does  he  write 
always  for  the  voice.  He  creates  the  most  ex- 
traordinary choral  effects  by  the  simplest  means, 
and  this  simplicity  always  ends  in  sublimity.  His 
oratorios  are  one  long  manifestation  of  original- 
ity, grand  conception,  and  energetic  execution. 
His  musical  influence  has  been  immense,  but  it  is 
general  rather  than  specific.  Some  say  he  stifled 
Purcell.  He  left  no  pupils  to  carry  on  his  work. 
After  him,  however,  choral  music  could  be  taken 
to  no  greater  heights. 


I04         THE  STORY   OF  THE  ART  OF  MUSIC 


CHAPTER  VII 

SYMPHONY — HAYDN,    MOZART    AND    BEETHOVEN- 
ROMANTIC    ART    IN    OPERA    AND    SYMPHONY 

In  the  last  chapter  we  left  vocal  music  on  its 
highest  pinnacle.  So  far  as  sacred  choral  art  was 
concerned  no  composer  could  hope  to  surpass 
Bach  and  Handel.  Now,  the  progress  of  instru- 
mental art  has  to  be  considered  again;  and,  in 
the  course  of  the  present  chapter  we  shall  find 
that  aspect  of  music  dealt  with  in  such  splendid 
fashion  by  the  masters  uf  orchestral  music  that 
any  improved  developments  of  instrumental  ex- 
pression seem  beyond  possibility. 

Haydn  (i 732-1809)  was  the  "  Father  of  Sym- 
phony." His  early  training  was  that  of  a  chor- 
ister— a  training  that  was  as  valuable  as  it  was 
real  in  Germany  in  his  time.  Accustomed  to 
hard  life  from  infancy,  he  stands  a  splendid  ex- 
ample of  what  may  be  accomplished  in  music — 
and  probably  in  everything  else — under  almost 
impossible  conditions.  His  poverty  proved  his 
blessing,  for  it  impelled  him  to  a  habit  of  industry 
which,  at  the  close  of  his  career,  left  him  the  com- 
poser of  118  symphonies,  83  quartettes,  24  con- 
certos, 24  trios,  44  sonatas,  19  operas,  15  masses, 
400  odd  dances,  163  baritone  pieces,  and  some 
oratorios,  including  that  grand  work,  The  Crea- 
tion^ besides  several  other  works. 

His  first  appeal  to  the  public  was  with  an 
opera,  entitled.  The  Devil  ofi  Two  Sticks,  which 
was  a  failure.  Shortly  after  this  he  turned  his 
attention  to  instrumental  music,  and  made  his  un- 
dying fame  thereby. 


HAYDN 


105 


Prince  Esterhazy  discovered  Haydn's  genius 
through  the  merit  and  originality  of  an  early  sym- 
phony. This  led  to  an  appointment  as  private 
chapel-master  to  the  Prince,  during 
the  tenure  of  which — some  thirty  years 
— Haydn  wrote  most  of  his  instru- 
mental music. 

As  a  composer  or  Doth  vocal  and 
instrumental  music,  Haydn,  of  course, 
ranks  among  the  giants  of  the  art. 
Strangely  enough,  he  was  sixty-six 
years  of  age  ere  he  composed  his 
great  oratorio,  The  Creation.  He  had 
retired  from  professional  life,  and  was 
in  that  contemplative  mood,  fit  for 
the  expression  of  a  p?ean  that  should 
not  unfitly  crown  his  career — a  life 
that  was  marked  by  real  piety.  It 
was  Haydn's  first  oratorio,  and  was  no 
sooner  heard  than  its  fame  spread  over  Europe. 
In  England  it  was,  until  some  thirty  years  ago, 
second  only  to  the  Messiah  in  popular  favour. 
That  which  the  iwx  poptili,  even  in  England, 
proclaimed  of  The  Creation  was  an  entirely  true 
verdict.  Its  arias  and  choruses  alike  are  beau- 
tiful and  admirably  vocal ;  in  one  chorus  "  The 
Heavens  are  telling  the  Glory  of  God,"  Haydn 
reaches  the  truly  grand  if  not  the  sublime.  But, 
pietist  as  Haydn  was,  his  natural  vein  was  too 
playful  for  the  wholly  successful  composition  of 
oratorii.  The  Creation  lacks  that  depth  and  so- 
lemnity, that  impressive  emotional  quality  which 
quickens  the  soul.  We  miss  the  majestic  moving 
power  that  is  so  abundant  in  the  oratorios  of 
Handel  and  Mendelssohn,  which  is  to  be  regretted, 
for  the  true  intent  was  really  present  in  Haydn. 


I06         THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 

The  Seasons  is  a  secular  work  although  in  ora- 
torio form.  Here  the  genial  composer  is  more 
successful  than  in  his  great  sacred  work.  His 
wonderful  descriptive  power,  his  ravishing  fresh- 
ness and  immense  simplicity,  and  above  all,  his 
brilliant  orchestral  resources  are,  in  this  work,  seen 
to  greater  advruuage  than  in  The  Creation — replete 
as  the  latter  is  "  ."ith  splendid  pictures  of  instrumen- 
tal imagery.  The  subjects  of  The  Seasons  did  not 
call  for  dignity,  solemnity  and  depth  as  did  his 
Creation  and  Masses,  and  the  absence  of  which  in 
his  sacred  music  has  brought  its  inevitable  verdict. 

Great  as  Haydn  was  as  a  symphonist,  he  was 
surpassed  in  this  domain  by  later  talents — but  no 
one  of  the  great  tone  poets  surpassed  him  as  a 
composer  of  Chamber  Music.  This  aspect  of  art 
— Musica  di  Camera — in  its  perfected  shape  dates, 
roughly  speaking,  from  Haydn's  day,  and  its  story 
requires  to  be  told. 

It  was  at  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century 
that  for  Chamber  Music  purposes  vocal  and  in- 
strumental music  began  to  part  company.  The 
first  writers  for  instruments  aimed  at  a  lighter  and 
more  flowing  kind  of  music  than  the  austere  mad- 
rigal. A  pioneer  composer  was  Dowland,  whose 
LachrimcB  consxsx.?,  of  small  pieces  in  various  styles 
for  instruments  in  five  parts.  Jenkins  (1592-1678) 
composed  "  Fantasias  "  for  six  instruments — the 
contents  of  a  "chest  of  viols" — to  meet  the  new 
taste  for  instrumental  art  which  set  in  just  as  the 
world  was  to  be  enriched  by  its  band  of  greatest 
composers — the  golden  age,  when  all  that  is 
grandest  and  noblest  in  music  seems  to  have 
found  expression  in  some  one  of  their  composi- 
tions. These  Titans  of  music  embellished  every 
musical  form  with  their  surpassing  genius,  but  in 


STRING  FAMILY  I07 

no  direction  did  their  masterly  labour  and  inven- 
tiveness leave  greater  mark  than  on  Chamber 
Music. 

The  design  of  Chamber  Music  is  to  lead  the 
music  lover  into  a  sanctuary  of  art  where  perfec- 
tion of  execution,  loveliness  of  detail,  and  highest 
mental  participation  become  the  sole  aspiration. 
Each  performer  is  a  soloist,  and  the  composers  of 
the  best  Chamber  Music  have  so  worked  that  the 
extreme  skill  of  the  player,  the  characteristic 
quality  and  capability  of  the  instrument,  as  well 
as  the  spirit  of  the  author  are  brought  out  to  per- 
fection. 

As  if  to  rival  the  charm  of  four  part  vocal 
music,  the  string  quartet  immediately  asserted  it- 
self. It  has  ever  stood  safe,  for  it  cannot  be  sur- 
passed. The  most  perfect  form  of  all  Chamber 
Music,  it  charms  composer,  performer  and  auditor 
alike.  Many  of  the  larger  forms  which  play 
round  it  are  beautiful  enough ;  but  the  earnest 
amateur  prefers  the  purity  and  grace  of  the  four 
strings.  Get  over  the  quartet,  and  immediately 
the  domain  of  the  symphony  is  attacked. 

Haydn,  as  a  writer  of  string  quartets  is  sim- 
ply matchless;  the  great  masters  have  expressed 
their  greatest  thoughts  in  this  form  ;  yet  famous 
artists  who  perform  quartets  make  Haydn  their 
idol.  His  naive  and  pointed  style  charms  a 
whole  race  of  dilettanti — enthusiasts  who  revel  in 
such  quartets  as  the  C  major  (Op.  jti)^  D  major 
(Op.  64),  D  minor  (Op.  76),  and  the  one  with 
Variations  on  "  God  Preserve  the  Emperor."  A 
Haydn  quartet  furnishes  a  perfect  sense  of  satis- 
faction and  completeness.  Such  quartets  as  Nos. 
63,  78  and  81  are  marvellous  examples  of  simply 
delightful    tonal  combinations — works   in  which 


Io8         THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 


the  Student  can  realise  what  the  family  of  violins 
is  capable  of  accomplishing  when  under  the  sway 
of  so  great  a  geniui:  as  Haydn. 

The  almost  illimitable  range  of  tone  possible 
from  the  bass  viol  to  the  far-reaching  violin, 
speedily  eclipsed  the  scope  of  the  Madrigal,  even 
when  it  was  accompanied  instrumentally  ;  and,  it 
is  scarcely  surprising  that  composers  made  eager- 
ly for  a  sphere  so  admirably  adapted  for  the  ex- 
pression of  theirchoicest  thoughts.  The  "  strings," 
so  alike  in  family,  are  yet  distinct  in  individual 
quality.  The  expression  each  is  capable  of  is 
wonderful.  Their  smooth  even  quality  of  tone, 
their  properties  of  blending  in  sweetest  contrast, 
their  effectiveness  whether  in  vigorous  or  gentlest 
mood,  their  intensity  of  intonation  when  finely 
manipulated — these  and  more  quali- 
ties make  a  combmation  of  stringed 
instruments,  the  union  par  excellence 
for  Chamber  Music. 

The  materiel  of  Chamber  Music, 
however,  was  to  be  strengthened, 
and  composers  arose  who  recognised 
"  wood  "  and  "  reed  "  as  fit  to  join  be- 
times with  the  immortal  "  strings." 
More  colour,  too,  was  to  be  given  to 
the  form. 

Bach  brought  in  the  small  organ  ; 
Haydn,  the  piano  ;  Mozart  added  un- 
told wealth  in  his  clarinet,  horn  and 
bassoon  parts — so  that  he  is  nowhere 
seen  in  more  transcendent  beauty  than 
in  such  works  as  the  C  major  and  D  minor  quar- 
tets, the  G  minor  and  A  major  quintets,  and  the 
serenades  for  oboes,  clarinets,  horns,  and  bassoons. 
Spohr's  double  quartet,  the  C  major  sextet  (Op. 


Ophicleide. 


MOZART  109 

140),  and  his  nonetto  in  F  major  are  marvels  of 
characteristic  orchestral  combination  and  worthily 
reflect  his  extraordinary,  exuberant,  colouring  gift. 
Chopin,  Mendelssohn,  Schubert,  Schumann  and 
Beethoven — all  have  made  splendid  contributions 
to  the  store  of  Chamber  Music.  The  Italian  School 
is  well  reflected  in  the  works  of  Veracini,  Locatelli, 
Valentini,  Marcello,  Bottesini,  and  especially  the 
irresistible,  playful  Boccherini.  Among  British 
musicians  Purcell,  Loder,  Onslow,  Balfe,  Macfar- 
ren,  Bennett,  Stanford,  Parry,  and  Mackenzie,  are 
known  by  scores  not  unworthy  of  being  placed 
high  in  the  list  of  miisica  di  camera. 

But,  the  masters  of  every  school  have  entered 
this  delightful  realm  of  art,  contributing  treasure 
upon  treasure  of  string  music;  and  the  creation 
of  "  ever  new  delights  "  in  this  direction  is  still 
proceeding.  Haydn,  however,  is  still  the  repre- 
sentative of  Chamber  Music.  He  affords  a  sense 
of  perfect  proportion  and  completeness,  com- 
bined with  matchless  melodic  expression.  Of 
course  in  powerful  emotion  and  poetic  meaning, 
Schubert,  Schumann,  and  particularly  Beethoven 
have  eclipsed  him. 

Moz.\RT  (1756-1791)  brings  us  again  to  Opera. 
It  can  be  said  of  him  that  he  was  the  greatest 
operatic  composer  the  world  had  seen — for,  in 
his  day,  the  romantic  element  in  Opera  was  want- 
ing. Mozart  was  a  born  genius,  and  his  father 
made  of  him  a  musical  prodigy,  for  he  could  both 
compose  and  play  when  but  a  mere  child.  Tour 
after  tour  was  made  to  the  musical  centres  of 
Europe,  so  that  his  early  life  was  one  long  round 
of  "show  "  business  with  the  inevitable  wonder- 
ment, caresses,  rewards,  and  not  infrequently  dis- 


no         THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 

appointment  to  the  father,  so  far  as  pecuniary 
return  was  concerned. 

In  his  brief  life  of  thirty-five  years  Mozart 
accomplished  an  almost  superhuman  amount  of 
work,  even  if  we  consider  only  his  compositions. 
He  was  destined  to  lead  the  way  in  the  work  of 
investing  music  with  all  that  warmth  and  emo- 
tional element  which  was  needed  to  render  it  a 
great  living  agent.  Bach  and  Handel  had  ac- 
complished much,  but  there  was,  comparatively 
speaking,  a  poverty  of  instruments  in  their  day 
which  fettered  them.  Mozart  brought  the  soul 
element  into  the  music,  and  there  is  not  a  page 
wherein  the  shadows  of  life — the  hopes  and  de- 
spondencies of  mortal  existence  are  not  delineated. 
Whether  in  the  composition  of  opera,  symphony, 
or  requiem,  he  rose  to  the  summit  of  excellence. 

Mozart's  chief  sacred  music  is  his  Masses. 
Bach,  in  his  great  D  Minor  Mass  and  Durante, 
Pergolesi,  and  Jomelli,  in  their  Italian  works,  had 
brought  the  Mass  form  to  the  importance  of  a 
Cantata,  treating  it  exhaustively  with  contra- 
puntal and  orchestral  device  until  in  cast  and 
colour  it  was  an  entirely  different  thing  from  the 
grand  old  mediaeval  pattern  Mass.  Haydn,  and 
especially  Mozart,  added  to  it  a  grace  and  free- 
dom which  made  this  Church  form  even  delight- 
ful as  music — if  this  can  be  deemed  a  virtue  in 
sacred  music.  No  longer  was  it  stereotyped, 
formal,  impersonal  music;  Mozart  introduced  the 
imaginative  element  and  with  his  delicious  mel- 
ody— melody  which  the  very  angels  might  sing — 
made  Mass  music  ravishing.  His  Requiem  in  D 
minor  is  supremely  beautiful,  its  impressive  dig- 
nity and  sacred  nature  being  appropriate  in  the 
extreme. 


GERMAN    MUSICAL    DRAMA  III 

Mozart's  instrumental  music  includes  works 
in  every  form,  chief  among  which  are  his  sym- 
phonies, quintets,  quartets,  and  concertos.  At 
least  forty-nine  symphonies  for  orchestra  came 
from  his  pen,  the  finest  being  the  E  fiat  major 
(Op.  58),  the  G  minor  (Op.  45),  and  the  C  major, 
surnamed  the  "  Jupiter  "  (Op.  38).  In  all  points 
these  three  are  far  in  advance  of  all  similar 
works  that  had  preceded  them,  and  with  those 
which  Haydn  penned  mark  an  historical  epoch 
in  orchestral  musical  art.  Mozart's  wonderful 
capacity  for  treating  instruments  individually  and 
collectively  ;  his  masterly  scholarship — especially 
as  a  contrapuntist ;  his  unsurpassed  gifts  as  a 
melodist — all  this  is  known  of  the  master  and  it 
is  grandly  reflected  in  these  symphonies. 

A  famous  and  often  discussed  orchestral  un- 
dertaking was  his  "Additional  Accompaniments" 
to  The  Messiah  and  other  of  Handel's  works. 
Many  people  suppose  this  was  on  account  of 
what  they  were  pleased  to  term  the  original 
*'  thin  "  scoring.  That  is  not  so.  The  orchestra 
of  Handel's  day  usually  out-numbered  the  chorus. 
Oboes,  bassoons  and  flutes  were  used  in  masses 
like  the  violins,  and  not  in  single  instruments  to 
a  part  as  at  present.  The  old  fashioned  wind  in- 
struments were  undoubtedly  thin  in  tone,  but 
this  was  all  complemented  by  the  mighty  ad  lib. 
organ  part  in  which  Handel  indulged,  and  also 
encouraged. 

The  stilted,  conventional  style  of  early  Italian 
opera  was  remedied  by  Mozart.  Taking  up  the 
old  Italian  opera  form  he  changed  it  completely, 
and  laid  the  basis  of  a  natural  German  musical 
drama.  The  first  opera  to  show  his  fresh  proc- 
esses was  Idomeneo  which,  although  on  the  old 
8 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 


Italian  model,  was  superior  in  vocal  breadth  and 
orchestral  variety  to  anything  that  had  preceded 
it.  There  was  a  greater  power,  freedom  and  in- 
dependence in  every  direction,  and  the  form  was 
evidently  about  to  be  transformed  into  a  much 
grander  dramatic  composition.  Nor  was  this 
long  about.  Five  years  later  Le  Nozze  di  Figaro, 
^  and   afterwards,   Don   Giovanni  disclosed 

"  the    mind   and    method    of    the    greatest 

operatic  genius,  veritably,  that  the  world 
had  seen.  The  dramatic  power  exhibited 
in  Le  Nozze  di  Figaro  and  the  extraordi- 
nary emotional  delineations  in  Don  Gio- 
vanni made  men  marvel.  The  incessant 
melodiousness,  vocal  and  instrumental, 
the  constant  thematic  and  contrapuntal 
ijM  combinations,  the  powerful  and  appropri- 

I  ate  orchestral  masses,  the  ever-changing, 

J  ever    fresh   variety   of    human    and    local 

Bassoon,  colour — all  this  was  striking  indeed  ;  but, 
when  all  was  combined,  when  a  union  was 
made  of  the  master's  wondrous  dramatic  power 
with  his  musical  resource  and  command  the  result 
was  stupendous. 

Die  Zauberflote  was  Mozart's  last  opera.  Bee- 
thoven declared  it  to  be  Mozart's  greatest  work, 
that  in  which  he  showed  himself  for  the  first 
time  a  truly  German  composer.  It  is  important, 
forming  as  it  does  a  landmark  in  the  history  of 
Opera,  and  constituting  the  first  work  in  that 
purely  German  School  of  musical  drama  which 
subsequently  engaged  Weber  and  Wagner.  "  The 
whole  musical  composition  is  pure  German,"  says 
Jahn,  "  and  here  for  the  first  time  German  Opera 
makes  free  and  skilful  use  of  all  the  elements  of 
finished  art.     If  in  his  Italian  operas  he  assimi- 


BEETHOVEN  113 

lated  the  traditions  of  a  long  period  of  develop- 
ment, and  in  some  sense  put  the  finishing  stroke 
to  it,  with  the  Zaiiberflote  Mozart  treads  on  the 
threshold  of  the  future,  and  unlocks  for  his  coun- 
trymen the  sacred  treasures  of  natural  art."* 

*'  Natural  art,"  as  Jahn  says.  This  was  the 
secret  of  Mozart's  overwhelming  success  in  his 
chief  department,  albeit,  he  was  a  master  in  all 
other  branches.  Old  Italian  opera  had  been 
lifeless.  Mozart  brought  living  humanity  on  to 
the  stage — each  one  speaking  his  individual 
character — and  supported  all  this  with  masterly 
orchestral  aids.  His  great  musical  genius  and 
scholarship,  his  marvellous  dramatic  power  (for 
one  so  young),  his  deliberate  flights  into  hitherto 
unsought  regions  of  musical  expression  and  dec- 
laration— these  made  him  one  of  the  world's 
masters  of  music — the  greatest  of  all  in  the  one 
field  where  such  a  combination  of  genius  was 
necessary — namely,  the  Opera. 

Beethoven  (1770-1827).  We  are  confronted 
here  with  the  greatest  genius  in  the  annals  of 
Music — one  whom  it  is  impossible  to  comprehend 
can  ever  be  surpassed  in  either  the  imaginative  or 
theoretical  departments  of  music.  A  master  spirit, 
he  overcame  all  the  obstacles  of  early  poverty 
and  rose  to  be  the  brightest  orb  in  the  musical 
firmament.  He  excelled  in  every  branch  of  his 
art.  One  solitary  opera,  Fidelio^  was  sufficient  to 
prove  his  great  power  as  a  dramatic-lyric  com- 
poser; he  stands  foremost  as  a  composer  of 
pianoforte  music;  the  *' Mount  of  Olives,"  al- 
though not  to  be  compared  with  Handel's  Messiah, 
or  Mendelssohn's  Elijah,  reflects  his  genius  as  a 

*  *'  Life  of  Mozart,"  vol.  ii.  p.  533. 


114 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  ART   OF   MUSIC 


composer  of  sacred  music;  his  Chamber  Music  is 
superior  to  all  th^-'t  had  preceded  it;  while  as  a 
Symphonist,  he  is  the  greatest  the  world  has  ever 
seen. 

The  story  of  the  symphony  covers  the  whole 
area  of  instrumental  musical  history;  for  what  is 
a  symphony  in  the  abstract,  and  apart 
from  its  ideal  purport,  but  a  huge  result 
of  the  handling  of  every  orchestral  re- 
source; as  an  art  form,  it  belongs  to  the 
age  of  classical  art,  beginning  with  Bach, 
and  continued  to-day  by  Tschaikowsky 
and  others.  Its  growth  was  steady  and 
natural.  As  instrument  after  instru- 
ment was  invented  or  discovered ;  as 
the  capabilities  of  instruments  became 
/f^^  known ;  as  the  taste  for  developing  all 
^i^^  instrumental  resource  grew :  and,  above 
all,  as  it  slowly  dawned  upon  mankind 
that  music  had  an  ideal  import — a  some- 
thing to  say  and  picture,  as  a  book  or 
canvas  might — so  the  symphony  grew. 
When  Rinnucini  in  his  first  opera  Euri- 
dice,  employed  a  harpsichord,  guitar,  viol, 
lute  and  flutes,  he  was  paving  the  way 
for  the  great  tone  poems  of  Haydn, 
Beethoven  and  Berlioz.  Monteverde's 
effort  to  invent  scenes  and  situations 
with  characteristic  and  dramatic  colour- 
Clarionet,  ing  (if  it  was  not  always  truly  local),  was 
a  laudable  step  in  the  direction  of  real- 
ism in  art,  the  greatest  splendour  of  which  is  only 
reached  through  the  medium  of  that  perfect  art 
creation,  the  symphony. 

All  early  music  that  was  not  vocal  was  "  sym- 
phony," so  comprehensive  and   phable  was  the 


GROWTH  OF  THE   SYMPHONY  115 

use  of  the  term.  The  simple  accompaniments 
to  early  music,  the  overtures,  introductions,  ritor- 
nelli,  pieces  for  single  instruments,  ballet  tunes, 
toccatas — all  were  included  under  the  one  head, 
"symphony."  This  lasted  long,  albeit  these  were 
forms  which  it  was  evident  could  be  extended  in- 
definitely. Scarlatti  and  Lully  both  recognised 
this.  The  latter  attacked  the  "introductory" 
movement,  which  was  the  symphony  in  hoc  statu, 
and  gave  it  so  distinct  a  form  in  handling,  that  it 
became  the  Overture.  Scarlatti,  too,  gave  such 
decided  character  to  the  movements  comprising 
the  overture,  that  from  these  two  stages  the  sym- 
phony, as  known  to-day,  undoubtedly  sprang. 

The  direct  form  leading  to  the  symphony 
was  the  Sonata  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
with  Corelli's  (1653-1712)  name  closely  allied 
to  it.  Then  came  the  Concerto,  invented  by 
Torelli  (1683-1708),  who  employed  the  ordinary 
string  quartet  and  the  solo  instrument.  Wind 
instruments  were  added  subsequently  by  Benda 
(1722-1795),  and  Stamitz  (1719-1801).  Then 
occurred  the  idea  of  doubling  the  parts,  and 
thus  was  secured  a  real  approach  towards  sym- 
phonic materiel,  long  before  the  ideas  of  tone 
colouring  and  sound  illustration  had  entered 
men's  minds.  Such  was  the  first  stage  of  that 
surpassing  orchestral  art  which  was  to  culmi- 
nate in  the  great  tone  epics  of  Haydn,  Mozart, 
and  Beethoven,  to  say  nothing  of  the  lights  of 
modern  schools. 

Musicians  prominently  associated  with  early- 
symphonic  music  were  Emmanuel  Bach  (1714- 
1788),  Gossec  (1733-1829),  and  Vanhall  (1739- 
1813).  The  symphonies  of  these  musicians  show 
the  status  of  the  form  in  its  early  independent 


Il6  THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 

existence  when  a  public  would  not  listen  to  the 
sinfonia  avanti  l' opera — playing  cards  and  such  like 
until  the  acting  began — thus  forcing  the  com- 
poser to  invest  the  overture  or  symphony  to  a 
piece  with  some  counteracting  interest.  The  mu- 
sician succeeded,  and  from  the  moment  that  the 
preamble  began  to  serve  as  a  reflex  of  the  opera 
itself,  the  symphony  as  a  separate  musical  form 
was  assured. 

The  first  period  symphony,  when  it  was  as 
frequently  styled  an  overture,  was  scored  for 
two  violins,  viola  and  bass,  two  oboes  or  two 
flutes  and  two  cors  de  chasse.  The  violins  were 
always  at  work ;  at  times  the  oboes  and  flutes 
supported  them;  the  viola  did  very  little,  while 
the  bass  had  carte  blanche,  and  could  be  added 
ad  libitum.  The  Bachs — John  Christian  and 
Emmanuel  added  much  to  the  colour  of  the 
orchestra,  besides  improving  the  general  style 
and  form  of  the  symphony.  Their  later  scoring 
will  be  seen  from  the  extract  on  the  opposite 
page. 

Haydn  inaugurated  a  new  era  in  orchestral 
music — an  era  of  realism,  in  the  development 
of  which  the  tone  art  has  soared  to  the  highest 
summits  to  which  it  can  attain  as  an  exponent 
of  the  noblest  thought  and  varied  fancy  of  intel- 
lectual perception  and  magnitude.  Haydn  found 
the  symphony  with  three  slight  movements — an 
Allegro,  Adagio,  or  Largo,  and  a  Vivace  to  termi- 
nate it.  He  extended  these,  and  constructed  each 
section  upon  a  much  broader  basis,  so  that  his 
symphonies  have  four  large  massive  movements: 
{a)  Allegro;  {U)  Andante  or  Largo;  {c)  Mimcetto 
and  Trio;  {d)  Allegro  or  Finale.  To  the  first  of 
these  movements  Haydn  prefixed  a  short  intro- 


GROWTH    OF   THE   SYMPHONY 


117 


Corni  in  Eflat 


-^- 


Emmanuel  Bach. 

ji 


^- 


±iiiz 


Flauti 


=!=: 


Oboi ^ 


=^-E 


:EEE 


Violini  i  and  2 


'Celli,  Fagotto,  Bassi  e  Cembalo 


aiEE 


ten. 

1?= 


ductory    Adaf^io,    as    indicated    in    the    following 
opening  bars — 

From  Haydn's  "Military"  Symphony  in  G, 
No.  12  (Grand  or  Salomon  Set) 

A  dagio —  Violin 

p     ^'-     ^ ___^_^ is 


ipe^ 


^1 


H 


ii8 


THE    STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 


This  Opening  was  adopted  by  Mozart  as  late  as 
his  44th  Symphony,  and  by  Beethoven  in  his  first 
and  second  Symphonies. 

Each  of  these  movements  has  a 
distinctive  character.  After  the  slow 
introduction  comes  the  joyous  Allegro, 
in  which  Haydn,  Mozart,  and  Bee- 
thoven particularly  excelled.  Some 
estimate  of  their  stupendous  talent 
may  be  formed  from  the  reflection 
that  it  is  from  such  slender  mate- 
rials, as  the  few  notes  of  the  sub- 
jects contained  in  the  following  ex- 
amples, that  the  masters  of  orches- 
tration have  built  up  their  vast 
creations  of  perpetual  music,  scintil- 
rumpet.  j^ting  with  all  the  gorgeous  thread 
and  colouring  of  orchestral  combination  and  sci- 
entific device — 

Aliegro 
Violin         p 


From  Haydn's  Symphony  in  D,  No.  6  (Salomon  Set). 


A  llegro  con  trio 
P 


From  Beethoven's  C  minor  Symphony. 


Allegro 


W^ 


Vi=f=^t 


=i5=t 


^^fee 


^^ 


From  Mozart's  G  minor  Symphony,  No.  48. 

After  the  Allegro  comes  the  Andante  or  Largo 
-sometimes  an  Allegretto,  as  in   Haydn's  "  Mili- 


MINUET 


119 


tary  "  Symphony.  A  wonderful  slow  movement 
of  this  kind  is  that  marked  "Adagio  "  in  Haydn's 
•*  Oxford "  Symphony,  while  in  the  same  com- 
poser's Symphony  No.  8  is  found  a  truly  charac- 
teristic Largo  in  D.  Mendelssohn  was  extremely 
happy  in  his  Andanti.  Here  is  the  subject  of  the 
well-known  one  in  the  "  Scotch  "  Symphony — 


Andante  con  Ttzoto 


S^ig^^^^ 


ife^ 


-PS- 


m^ 


^ 


=P=PC 


^^ 


=n= 


H^HEe 


:«: 


-(- 


From  Mendelssohn's  A  minor  Symphony  {"  Scotch"). 


All  can  imagine  the  Minuet — the  stately, 
courtly,  old  style  movement.  It  was  Haydn's 
favourite  measure,  in  which  no  composer  has 
surpassed  him.  One,  indeed,  threatened  its 
existence,  but  even  the  sprightly  Scherzo  which 
Beethoven  invented  to  supplant  it,  wins  its  favour 
by  an  elegance  equally  marked  though  exactly 
opposite  to  that  of  the  Minuet.  The  Minuet  has 
a  piquant  step.  Here  are  some  indications  of 
Beethoven's  examples  of  Minuets — 


A  llegro  molto  e  vivace 


^ 


ce       .  I       I       V       I 


&c. 


From  the  "  First  "  Symphony. 


Tempo  di  Minuetto 


f    ■*■     <t^    ^f      ^f      ^f 

sf  s/ 

From  the  "  Eighth  "  Symphony. 


I20         THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 

The  following  are  two  bits  of  Scherzi  such  as 
Beethoven  invented.  Their  elasticity  and  irre- 
sistible *'  go  "  are  simply  glorious — 


Scherzo —  Viol 


;o — Viol       I        III      »       .*=»-  -*.    : 


£^ 


From  C  major  Symphony,  No.  i. 


Allegro  vivace 


From  the  "  Eroica"  Symphony. 
Vivace  Assai — Wind 


&C. 


From  Benedict's  G  minor  Symphony. 

Another  Allegro  or  Vivace  completes  the  Sym- 
phony. The  whole  orchestral  lorces  are  em- 
ployed and  persistently  occupied.  Thus  was  its 
form  settled  for  all  time.  Only  once  has  this 
orthodox  form  been  assailed,  and  this,  as  we 
have  said,  by  Beethoven  when  he  displaced  the 
Minuet  with  his  rapturous,  flying  Scherzo. 

Of  the  large  number  of  symphonies  Haydn 
wrote,  the  twelve  "  Grand  "  or  Salomon  set, 
which  he  composed  to  the  order  of  that  cele- 
brated entrepreneur,  are  best  known  and  admired. 
They  stand  lustrous  amid  the  firmament  of  in- 
strumental art.  "  You  will  never  surpass  these 
symphonies,"  said  a  dear  friend.  "  I  never  mean 
to  try,"  was  the  characteristic  reply  of  the  won- 
derful composer,  who  had  a  singular  faculty  for 
gauging  his  own  compositions. 

Haydn's  ist   Symphony  was  scored  for  two 


HAYDN'S  ORCHESTRATION  i2I 

violins,  viols,  bass,  two  oboes,  and  two  horns. 
But  his  mission  was  to  take  the  form  into  its 
second  or  *'  great  "  period,  and  it  was  not  long 
before  instrument  after  instrument  was  requisi- 
tioned, until  the  general  strength  of  a  symphony 
score  became  as  follows — 
Flutes      ^ 

^,     •     ,     >  Each  with  two  parts  music. 
Clarinets  j  ^ 

Bassoons  J 

Horns — In  two  to  four  parts  music. 

Trumpets — Generally  two  parts  music. 

Trombones — Two  or  three  parts  music. 

Kettledrums — Two,  tuned  in  fourths  or  fifths. 

ist  Violins 

Violas'(Tenors)  )>^^'  ^'^^  ^^^''  respective  parts 
■XT-   1      ^11-         ^  t       music. 
Violoncelli  | 

Double  Basses    J 

A  reference  to  the  opening  bars  of  the  Allegro 
in  Beethoven's  C  minor  Symphony  will  show  that 
he  used  all  instruments  with  tremendous  effect; 
nor  must  we  forget  that  in  his  '•  Choral  "  Sym- 
phony he  even  demanded  the  human  voice. 

To  end  our  story  of  the  Symphony — told  at 
some  length  because  the  Symphony  is  the  con- 
summation of  orchestral  splendour — Mozart's 
forty-nine  were,  save  the  three  great  epics  al- 
ready mentioned,  on  the  small  lines  of  E.  Bach's 
examples,  but  they  for  the  most  part  abound 
in  that  loveliness  and  passionate  expression  of 
which  Mozart  was  so  great  a  master.  Beethoven 
reached  the  summit  of  even  his  tremendous  ge- 
nius in  nine  of  these  great  tone  poems.  Schubert 
composed  nine,  leaving  the  ninth — which  prom- 
ised to  be,  as  Beethoven's  was,  his  greatest — un- 


THE    STORY  OF    THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 


finished.  Mendelssohn's  finest  examples  are 
the  C  minor,  the  "  Reformation,"  "Italian,"  and 
"Scotch."  Schumann's  E  flat  or  "Rhenish" 
Symphony,  and  those  in  C  major  and  D  minor, 
are  works  of  noblest  order.  Spohr  is 
1  famous    for    his    "  Power    of    Sound " 

j^t  Symphony.      France    has   had    famous 

l^j  symphonists      in     Cherubini,     Berlioz, 

David,  and  others ;  among  modern 
Germans  the  works  of  Brahms,  Dvorak, 
Raff,  and  Liszt  are  universally  admired; 
the  Russian  Tschaikowsky  is  at  the 
present  time  surprising  the  world  with 
his  symphonies ;  and  England  cannot 
be  said  to  be  unfavourably  represented 
in  this  domain  by  Sterndale  Bennett, 
Macfarren,  Sullivan,  Cowen,  Mackenzie, 
Stanford,  and  Prout. 

The  Symphony  is,  indeed,  a  great 
reality — a  wonderful  realization  of  the 
steady  growth  of  instrumental  addenda 
and  treatment  of  theoretical  musical  form.  The 
predominant  force  and  poetical  import  of  the 
greatest  symphonies  astonish  even  the  trained 
musician,  however  eminent.  How  they  appeal  to 
and  strike  the  ordinary  listener  cannot  be  meas- 
ured. It  is  enough  to  know,  however,  that  these 
great  tone  poems  of  Beethoven,  Mendelssohn, 
Schubert  and  Schumann  fulfil  the  highest  mission 
of  Music — a  regenerating  force  and  power,  second 
only  in  importance  to  Religion  itself. 


Slide 
Trumpet. 


Weber  (i 786-1 826)  appreciably  influenced 
music  through  the  medium  of  Opera.  The  son 
of  a  travelling  actor,  he  was  associated  from 
infancy   with  theatrical  surroundings  and   para- 


WEBER  123 

phernalia,  and  his  whole  life  was  spent  in  stage 
musical  work.  If  Mozart  furnished  the  founda- 
tion of  German  national  lyric  drama,  Weber 
added  considerably  10  the  fabric,  not  merely 
through  the  many  brilliant  musical  dramas  which 
he  composed  and  produced,  but  by  means  of  the 
characteristic  original  quality  and  atmosphere 
with  which  he  invested  his  operas. 

Mozart  had  already  demonstrated  that  the 
Monodists  of  the  seventeenth  century  had  com- 
mitted a  fatal  mistake  in  rejecting  in  their  operas 
the  contrapuntal  experience  of  their  great  pred- 
ecessors, and  Weber  arose  to  clothe  opera  with 
a  grand  distinguishing  garment.  All  that  deli- 
cious melody,  dramatic  situation,  and  masterly 
scholarship  could  accomplish  for  opera  had  been 
exhibited  by  Mozart — but  German  opera  for 
Germans  was  not  yet  made.  There  was  needed 
the  musical  complement  of  the  corresponding 
romantic  element  in  German  literature,  which 
was  forming  and  flourishing  in  Weber's  time. 
Weber  was  born  to  provide  this — and  here  we 
have  the  starting  point  of  German  opera  as 
maintained  and  left  by  Wagner.  "Wagner's 
Lohengrin,''  says  Schluter,  "is  the  offspring  of 
Eiiryanthe  by  direct  descent." 

The  supernatural  glamour,  if  we  may  so  call 
it,  which  Weber  threw  into  his  operas,  is  first 
traceable  m  Riibezahl  (1806) — from  which  date 
may  be  ascribed  the  introduction  of  that  new  and 
remarkable  development  of  the  German  Opera 
which  musical  historians  embody  in  the  "  Roman- 
tic "  School — an  aspect  of  Art  which,  since  the  be- 
ginning of  the  nineteenth  century,  has  exercised 
a  more  decided  influence  upon  the  progress  of 
dramatic  music  than  any  other  recognised  agent. 


124 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 


Euryanthe  (1823)  may  certainly  be  regarded 
as  a  landmark  in  the  development  of  Opera.  Its 
reception  when  produced  was  not  satisfying  to 
Weber;  but  he  had  made  the  founding  of  a  dis- 
tinct school  of  German  opera  the  mission  of  his 
life,  and  he  successfully  accomplished  his  under- 
taking. "The  Italians  and  the  French,"  he  said, 
"have  fashioned  for  themselves  a  distinct  form 
of  opera,  with  a  framework  which 
allows  them  to  move  with  ease  and 
freedom.  Not  so  the  Germans  .  .  . 
The  German  wants  a  work  of  art 
complete  in  itself,  with  each  part 
rounded  off  and  compacted  into  a 
perfect  whole.  For  him,  therefore,  a 
fine  ensemble  is  the  prime  necessity." 
Weber  had  a  very  passion  for 
mediaeval  romanticism,  and  the  tradi- 
tions and  literature  of  his  country 
readily  furnished  him  with  subjects 
for  dramatic  characterisation  kin- 
dred to  Riibezahl — the  Spirit  of  the 
Mountain.  Silvana  and  Abii  Hassan 
are  akin ;  Der  Freischiitz,  Freciosa,  Euryanthe  and 
Oberon  still  more  so. 

Of  these  operas  people  are  mostly  familiar 
with  Der  Freischiltz^  which  enjoys  undiminished 
popularity  to-day.  In  this  work  Weber  is  as  great 
in  his  way  as  is  Beethoven  in  the  Symphony.  No 
opera  composer  has  ever  given  us  such  scenes — 
some  haunting,  some  ravishing,  some  heavenly — 
as  has  Weber  in  Der  Freischiitz.  Everything  is 
marvellously  beautiful — reflecting  everywhere  that 
sentiment  of  mediaeval,  fanatical  Catholicism — 
that  almost  pantheistical  nature-worship  which 
was  the  religious  sentiment  of  Weber's  day. 


Saxophone. 


I 


SCHUBERT  125 

Nor  was  it  in  Opera  alone  that  Weber's  in- 
fluence has  been  so  remarkable  and  abiding.  To 
him  is  due,  be  it  remembered,  that  romantic 
movement  which  has  affected  all  music,  vocal  and 
instrumental.  We  have  only  to  try  and  imagine 
music  without  this  element — without  all  its  intent 
and  spirit-feature — to  see  what  an  unsatisfactory, 
cold  and  bloodless  art  it  would  be.  Weber  must 
be  chronicled  as  the  composer  who  gave  more 
than  any  other  to  the  atmosphere  of  music,  espe- 
cially in  opera;  just  as  Beethoven  was  as  great 
in  the  spiritual  purport  and  import. 

Schubert  (1797-1828)  was  a  master  spirit 
who  excelled  in  almost  every  phase  of  musical 
art,  being  lavishly  endowed  with  that  fecundity 
which  almost  invariably  accompanies  real  genius. 
His  dramatic  music  and  masses  would  alone  en- 
title him  to  a  high  place  among  composers ;  his 
symphonies  place  him  with  the  great  tone  mas- 
ters. 

The  dramatic  music  which  he  composed  in- 
cludes the  operas  Alfonso  und  Estrella,  Fierabras, 
the  music  to  Rosamunde,  and  the  cantata  Miriam's 
Battle  Song.  His  nine  symphonies  for  orchestra 
rank  among  the  greatest  works  of  their  kind. 
They  are  his  masterpieces — illustrating  more 
than  any  other  of  Schubert's  music  the  grand 
breadth  of  his  imagination,  and  the  surpassing 
fertility  of  his  genius.  They  do  infinite  honour 
to  the  German  School. 

Schubert's  name  is  so  well  known  to-day  that 
it  is  almost  impossible  to  imagine  that  in  his  own 
time  his  merits  as  a  composer  were  unknown  save 
by  a  few  Austrian  friends.  Schubert  was  twenty 
years  the  junior  of  Beethoven,  and  the  two  musi- 
cians resided  in  Vienna  for  many  years ;  yet  Bee- 


126  THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 

thoven  seems  to  have  been  quite  unconscious  of 
the  genius  so  near  '^o  him.  To-day  h\s post  obitum 
fame  is  hardly  less  than  Beethoven's. 

It  is  as  Song  writer — a  composer  of  lieder — 
that  Schubert  excelled  ;  indeed,  he  is  the  King  of 
Song.  As  has  been  written  before,  "  Many  may 
know  him  by  other  music,  but  the  world  at  large 
knows  him  only  by  those  inspiring  melodies  which 
enkindle  all  the  emotions  appertaining  to  human 
nature — love  and  hatred,  joy  and  sorrow,  hope 
and  despair,  consolation,  resignation,  and  the 
like.  Those  six  hundred  and  fifty  songs  form  a 
unique  and  precious  bequest  to  music,  and  com- 
plete the  last,  and  not  least,  of  the  stately  and 
strong  columns  on  which  the  vast  edifice  of  mod- 
ern musical  art  rests — the  Symphonies  and  So- 
natas of  Beethoven,  the  Operas  of  Mozart,  the 
Oratorios  of  Handel,  the  Chamber  Music  of 
Haydn,  and  the  Songs  of  Schubert."*  His  mar- 
vellous songs  constitute  an  unrivalled  section  of 
the  world's  finest  music,  and  to  them  every  musi- 
cian loves  to  turn,  and  in  fancy  soar  whitherso- 
ever their  composer's  passionate  and  soul-stirring 
melodies  lead. 

The  song,  as  a  musical  form,  is  the  setting  of 
a  short  poem  or  portion  of  prose,  for  one  or  more 
singers.  Needless  to  say  it  has  received  a  variety 
of  treatment,  but  the  German  lied  as  a  song  form 
undoubtedly  belongs  to  Schubert.  As  has  been 
said,  "  It  was  he  who  first  invested  it  with  a  dra- 
matic character,  and  sought  to  make  the  union  of 
the  music  and  verse  absolutely  perfect."  It 
would  be  misleading  to  avow  that  Schubert  made 
the  song.     All  its  foundation  had  been  laid,  and 

*  "  The  Great  Tone-Poets  "  (Crowest),  p.  288. 


SCHUBERT'S  SONGS  1 27 

the  form  settled  long  before  his  time;  but  Schu- 
bert made  it  a  perfect  vehicle  of  musical  expres- 
sion :  he  crowned  the  edifice. 

Schubert  had  defects  musically.  By  reason  of 
his  irregular  and  deficient  early  training  he  lacked 
the  quality  of  order — conciseness  and  com- 
pactness. This  diffusiveness  is  apparent 
everywhere,  there  being  scarcely  a  compo- 
sition that  would  not  be  improved  by  a 
process  of  revision  and  pruning.  It  is  in 
his  instrumental  music  that  this  defect  is 
particularly  apparent.  He  could  not  com- 
press and  restrict.  It  is  present  in  his 
songs.  That  distinctiveness  of  classifica- 
tion which  makes  a  bass  song  of  Handel's 
something  which  a  bass  only  can  sing, 
does  not  stamp  Schubert's  songs.  From 
the  compass  of  Schubert's  songs  it  is  easy  oboe. 
to  perceive  that  their  composer  had  little 
care  for  vocal  possibilities.  J, ike  most  German 
songs  they  are  mainly  written  for  almost  any  voice, 
and  consequently  belong  to  none — so  that  for 
legitimate  singing  they  are  almost  a  sealed  book. 
Had  they  been  classified  and  written  for  the  best 
part  of  soprano,  contralto,  tenor,  or  bass  voice,  they 
would  by  their  sheer  inherent  beauty  have  been 
invaluable.  Such  leaps  as  repeated  sevenths  and 
ninths  are  scarcely  agreeable  baits  for  vocalists. 

The  accompaniments  to  Schubert's  songs  are 
most  interesting.  Their  range  and  figure  are  fre- 
quently extraordinary.  Embracing  almost  every 
form  and  figure,  they  are  as  remarkable  for  their 
realism  as  for  their  beauty.  By  the  power  alone 
of  the  rhythm  of  some  of  these  accompaniments, 
Schubert  frequently  raises  the  simplest  vocal  mel- 
ody to  the  highest  dramatic  reach. 

Q 


1 28  THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 

Mendelssohn  (1809-1847)  is  a  great  name  in 
music,  and  the  more  remarkable  in  that  he  accom- 
plished so  much  when  so  much  had  been  done  be- 
fore him.  The  son  of  a  banker,  he  was  brought 
up  amid  favouring  influences,  among  which  the 
best  music  played  a  great  part.  A  born  musician, 
his  talent  showed  itself  as  a  child.  Happily  this 
was  fostered  and  trained  just  as  if  his  future  live- 
lihood depended  upon  his  being  a  competent  pro- 
fessional musician.  It  was  at  the  age  of  sixteen 
that  Felix  was  taken  to  Cherubini  for  that  great 
master's  judgment  upon  the  boy's  promise.  It 
was  highly  favourable,  and  thus  one  of  the  great- 
est and  most  eclectic  musicians  the  world  has 
ever  known  found  his  appointed  sphere. 

The  work  which  stamped  Mendelssohn  as  a 
light  of  the  world  was  the  C  Minor  Symphony 
(1824)  composed  when  he  was  but  fifteen  years 
old.  "  The  work  " — to  quote  a  great  authority — 
"is  more  historically  than  musically  interesting. 
It  shows,  as  might  be  expected,  how  much 
stronger  the  mechanical  side  of  Mendelssohn's 
artistic  nature  was,  even  as  a  boy,  than  his 
poetical  side.  Technically,  the  work  is  extraor- 
dinarily mature.  It  evinces  not  only  a  perfect 
and  complete  facility  in  laying  the  outline  ana 
carrying  out  the  details  of  form,  but  also  the 
acutest  sense  of  the  balance  and  proportion  of 
tone  of  the  orchestra.  The  limits  of  the  attempt 
are  not  extensive,  and  the  absence  of  strong 
feeling  or  aspiration  in  the  boy  facilitated  the 
execution.  The  predominant  influence  is  clearly 
that  of  Mozart.  Not  only  the  treatment  of  the 
lower  and  subordinate  parts  of  the  harmony,  but 
the  distribution  and  management  of  the  different 
sections,  and  even  the  ideas  are  alike.     There  is 


MENDELSSOHN  1 29 

scarcely  a  trace  of  the  influence  of  Beethoven, 
and  not  much  of  the  features  afterwards  char- 
acteristic of  the  composer  himself.*  From  the 
time  of  the  composition  of  this  symphony  Men- 
delssohn was  a  notable  personality. 

There  is  not  a  department  of  music — save 
Opera — which  he  did  not  adorn ;  and  when  we 
consider  his  vast  array  of  compositions  and  their 
splendid  quality,  in  view  of  his  short  life  he  must 
be  accounted  one  of  the  world's  wonder-workers. 
It  is  to  be  regretted  that  he  went  on  at  such  head- 
long speed,  for  it  proved  fatal. 

From  his  earliest  years  Mendelssohn  evinced 
great  gifts  as  a  performer  upon  the  pianoforte 
and  organ,  his  memory  and  powers  of  improviza- 
tion  growing  more  remarkable  as  he  got  older. 
But  his  creative  powers  as  a  composer  shadowed 
everything.  Among  his  varied  pianoforte  music 
his  graceful  Lieder  ohne  Worte  not  merely  intro- 
duce us  to  a  new  and  beautiful  form,  but  provide 
a  charming  collection  of  pieces  in  which  even  the 
advanced  pianist  may  find  enjoyment  and  good 
practice.  They  are  something  more  than  mere 
exercises  in  harmonical  combination. 

As  an  instrumental  composer  Mendelssohn 
was  powerful  in  the  extreme.  His  Chamber 
music  ranks  with  that  of  the  best  masters.  Such 
magnificent  works  as  the  Trio  in  D  minor  (Op. 
49),  the  Quintet  in  B  flat  (Op.  87),  the  Sextet  in 
D  major  (posthumous),  and  many  others  have 
only  to  be  heard  to  convince  the  listener  that  in 
them  the  greatest  possibilities  of  Chamber  Music 
are  realized. 


*  "  Dictionary  of  Music  and  Musicians  "  :    *'  Symphony," 
Article  (Parry),  vol.  iv.  p.  31. 


I3o         THE  STORY  OF   THE  ART  OF  MUSIC 

His  chief  instrumental  scores  are  his  sym- 
phonies, descriptive  overtures,  concertos,  and  the 
music  to  the  plays  of  Sophocles,  Goethe's  "Wal- 
purgisnacht,"  etc.  In  all  of  these  we  meet  with 
his  vast  imaginative  faculty  and  individuality  to 
perfection.  Mendelssohn  completed  five  sym- 
phonies which,  in  the  order  they  were  written, 
are  as  follows — '*  C  minor"  (1824),  "Reforma- 
tion" (1830),  "Italian"  (1833),  "  Lobgesang " 
(1840),  and  the  "Scotch"  (1842).  They  are  all 
noble  works  and  justly  great  favourites.  In  them 
we  meet  with  all  that  magnificent  array  of  orches- 
tration, instrumental  resource,  massive,  dramatic, 
and  emotional  feeling,  florid,  yet  rich  harmony 
and  melody,  with  a  consistent  impressiveness  of 
which  he  was  so  great  a  master.  Standing,  as  he 
does,  midway  between  the  classical  and  romantic 
schools  of  musical  thought,  he  approaches  nearer 
to  Beethoven  than  any  other  composer  who  has 
followed  the  Bonn  master. 

Mendelssohn  left  many  sacred  compositions, 
among  which  his  oratorios  Elijah,  St.  Paul,  and 
the  Hymn  of  Praise  rise  conspicuously.  Many 
regard  St.  Paul  as  the  finer  work  of  the  two 
oratorii,  but  no  sacred  composition  save  Handel's 
Messiah,  has  won  greater  popularity  than  has 
Elijah.  For  impressive  dignity  and  originality 
this  oratorio  leaves  nothing  to  be  desired;  and  it 
is  not  likely  to  be  soon  surpassed  by  any  future 
composer. 

Because  of  his  Elijah  Mendelssohn  is  popularly 
regarded  as  the  compeer  of  Handel ;  yet  he  is 
not.  In  our  opinion  it  is  extremely  doubtful  if 
the  Elijah  will,  in  the  long  run,  outlive  the  fame 
of  the  Messiah.  The  two  masters  must  not  be 
compared    since    they    are    both    tremendous    in 


SCHUMANN 


131 


their  different  ways.  As  has  been  well  said  in 
speaking  of  these  magnificent  oratorios  Elijah 
and  St.  Paul,  "the  works  of  Handel  bear  no  com- 
parison with  those  creations  save  in  a  few  of  the 
choral  numbers,  as  the  styles  of  both  masters  are 
quite  opposed  to  each  other  in  every  respect. 
The  harmonies  of  Handel  are  thin  and  colourless 
beside  those  of  Mendelssohn,  and  the  whole 
structure  and  character  of  the  dramatic  and 
emotional  feeling  is  entirely  different  in  both."* 
Work  after  work  of  Mendelssohn,  both  in  con- 
ceptive  breadth,  clearness  of  design,  poetic  in- 
tention, scholarship,  detail,  orchestration,  and 
impressiveness,  belongs  to  music  of  the  first 
order;  yet,  on  the  whole,  Mendelssohn  does  not 
reach  the  altitude  of  Bach,  Handel,  Mozart,  an(^ 
Beethoven. 

Schumann  (1810-1856)  is  the  last,  for  the 
present,  of  the  great  masters  of  music.  He  was  a 
most  exalted  genius  whose  pianoforte  works  alone 
entitle  him  to  a  place  in  the  first  rank  of  the 
wonder-workers  in  music.  Such  pianoforte  com- 
positions as  his  first  period  works — the  Sonatas 
in  F  sharp  minor  and  G  minor,  with  his  fantasias 
stamp  him  as  one  of  the  most  original  minds  the 
world  of  music  has  ever  known.  He  accom- 
plished greater  things  however  in  his  symphonies 
— those  great  works  in  B  flat,  D  minor,  C  major, 
and  E  flat  jf,  which  it  might  be  stated  are  not  yet 
properly  understood.  His  originality  in  these 
pianoforte  and  orchestral  compositions  is  amaz- 
ing, and  some  day,  probably,  what  is  now  re- 
garded as  "  too  involved  and  obscure  "  will  be 

*  "  Biographical   Dictionary   of    Musicians "  (Brown),    p. 
425- 


132  THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 

better  understood  and  appreciated.  He  stands 
the  crowning  glory  of  the  classical  in  musical  art. 
It  may  be  said  of  Schumann,  that  he  never  wrote 
a  commonplace  idea;  but  free  from  all  fetters  of 
defined  terms  he  is  constantly  nobly  fantastic, 
passionate,  original  and  master-like  in  the  ex- 
treme. 

Schumann's  musical  individuality  is  immense. 
Throwing  himself  from  the  outset  into  the  poet- 
ical and  ideal  in  music  he  stands  probably  the 
most  advanced  among  romantic  composers. 
Speaking  a  musical  language  peculiar  to  himself, 
and  wholly  independent  of  previous  or  contem- 
porary models,  he  has  left  work  upon  work, 
teeming  with  advanced  thought  and  aspiration 
towards  the  Unknown,  that  will  always  command 
him  a  place  among  the  giants  of  art  and  the 
world's  greatest  thinkers. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

CxROWTH    OF    FORM    AND    ORCHESTRATION 

At  the  hands  of  the  Masters  of  Music  the  art 
reached  perfection  point.  The  vast  future  may 
reveal  yet  extremer  things  through  Music's  aid, 
although  it  is  difficult  to  imagine  beings,  con- 
stituted as  we  are,  capable  of  discerning  greater 
tonal  revelations  than  are  already  before  man- 
kind. Nevertheless,  so  illimitable  is  the  sphere 
of  Music,  so  uncontrolled  is  the  imaginative  and 
comprehending  faculty  of  man,  that  it  is  possible 
that  a  new  race  may  be  endowed  with  gifts  en- 
abling it  to  make  even  more  far-reaching  excur- 


FORM   AND   ORCHESTRATION  133, 

sions  into  the  great  vista  of  art-possibility.  A 
region  so  vast  cannot  be  held  to  have  been  fully 
explored  ;  and  there  may  be  fresh  chords  and 
harmonica!  combinations  awaiting  the  intellect 
and  patience  of  future  students  of  music,  not 
dreamt  of  in  our  philosophy.  Happily,  most  of 
us  are  content  with  harmony  and  counterpoint 
as  they  are ;  and  the  man  who  to-day  could  in- 
vent a  new  chord  would  hardly  be  regarded  as  a 
friend  of  his  race. 

What  is  meant  by  "  Form  "  ?  It  is  the  shape 
in  which  musical  thoughts  or  ideas  are  set  out. 
That  great  authority.  Sir  Hubert  Parry,  describes 
form  thus:  "The  means  by  which  unity  and  pro- 
portion are  arrived  at  in  musical  works  are,  the 
relative  distribution  of  keys  and  harmonic  basses 
on  the  one  hand,  and  of  'subjects  '  or  figures  or 
melodies  on  the  other;  and  this  distribution  is 
called  \.\i&  forni  of  the  work."*  Consider,  say, 
the  construction  of  a  symphony.  If  a  man  sits 
himself  down  to  write  such  a  composition  he 
must  be  an  architect  of  his  edifice,  much  in  the 
same  way  as  if  he  were  building  a  structure  of 
brick  and  stone.  He  must  not  say  all  he  has  to 
say  in  one  long  breath.  There  must  be  the  several 
parts  of  the  structural  whole,  and  it  is  in  the 
regular  construction  of  these  parts  that  the  laws 
of  "  form  "  are  brought  into  play.  Composers  de- 
viate, more  or  less,  from  accepted  method  and  ex- 
ample;  but  one  and  all  strive  after  one  end — the 
mind  and  attention  of  the  auditors.  "  Their  at- 
tention has  to  be  retained  for  a  space  of  time, 
sometimes  by  no  means  insignificant  ;  and  con- 

*  Article  on  "  Form  "  :   "  Dictionary  of  Music  and  Musi- 
cians," vol  i.  p.  541. 


134  THE   STORY   OF   THE    ART    OF   MUSIC 

nectioii  has  to  be  established  for  them  without 
the  aid  of  words  or  other  accessories  between 
parts  of  the  movement  which  appear  at  consider- 
able distance  from  each  other,  and  the  whole 
must  be  so  contrived  that  the  impression  upon 
the  most  cultivated  hearer  shall  be  one  of  unity 
and  consistency.  In  such  a  case  Form  will  in- 
evitably play  an  important  part,  becoming  more 
and  more  complex  and  interesting  in  proportion 
to  the  development  of  readiness  of  comprehen- 
sion in  the  auditors.  The  adoption  of  a  form 
which  is  quite  beyond  the  intellectual  standard  of 
those  for  whom  it  is  intended  is  a  waste  of  valu- 
able work  ;  but  a  perfect  adaptation  of  it  to  their 
highest  standard  is  both  the  only  means  of  lead- 
ing them  on  to  still  higher  things,  and  the  only 
starting-point  for  further  progress."* 

Monody  is  the  voice  of  Nature — the  animal 
not  having  yet  appeared  capable  of  uttering  more 
than  one  sound  at  one  and  the  same  moment. 
This  is  a  starting-point.  The  addition  of  a 
second  part  to  this  monody  provided  two  part 
harmony,  and  suggested  the  duet.  In  process  of 
time  part  was  added  to  part  until  four,  eight,  and 
even  forty-part  vocal  music  was  secured.  In- 
struments were  treated  in  the  same  way.  As 
each  instrument  appeared  it  was  introduced  into 
the  orchestra.  At  first  such  instruments  were 
used  collectively  without  much  regard  to  their 
individuality  ;  but  gradually  their  characteristic 
qualities  came  to  be  considered,  and  composers 
arose  who  made  each  instrument  an  identity, 
speaking  its  own  language  and  asserting  its  char- 

*  *'  Form "  (Parry) :  "  Dictionary  of  Music  and  Musi- 
cians," vol.  i.  p.  541. 


FORM 


135 


acter  much  in  the  same  way  as  should  the  human 
being. 

With  these  resources  such  grand  polyphonic 
textures  as  the  choruses  of  Bach's  Passion  music, 
Handel's  oratorios,  and  the  finali  of  Beethoven's 
Symphonies,  became  possible,  and  were  step  by 
step,  or  as  the  growth  of  "  form  "  went  on,  se- 
cured. 

The  shape  or  "  form  "  in  which  musical  ideas 
are  set  out  is  divided  into  two  orders — melodic 
and  harmonic — the  first  embracing  the  laws  of 
melody  and  rhythm,  the  second  having  to  do 
with  tonality  and  chords.  There  is  a  division  of 
the  first  order  into  the  following  parts  :  motive 
or  theme,  section,  phrase,  sentence,  and  subject. 
Two  motives  form  a  section  ;  two  sections  make 
up,  generally,  a  simple  phrase  ;  two  phrases  con- 
stitute a  sentence  ;  two  or  more  sentences  com- 
bined form  a  musical  subject.*  A  gradual  de- 
velopment of  these  small  beginnings  has  led  up 
to  the  mighty  symphonies  of  Beethoven  and 
others.  There  are  few  more  instructive  stories 
than  this  slow  unfolding  or  evolutionary  process 
of  Music's  theoretical  side  ;  but  it  is  so  large  a 
subject  and  branches  off  into  so  many  directions 

*  The  term  "  subject  "  also  applies  to  the  opening  theme 
of  a  fugue  in  the  working  out  of  which  such  leading  theme 
will  be  found  more  or  less  identical  in  all  four  parts,  if  it  be  a 
fugue  of  four  parts.     Here  is  a  "  subject  " — 

A  Uegretto 


^^^£g^g-1^^^^^^ 


From   Bach's   Fugue  2,  C  minor  in   Le  Clavecin  bien 
tempere. 


136  THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 

that  it  becomes  a  study  in  itself,  and  can  only 
be  touched  upoii  here.  A  theme,  section, 
phrase,  sentence,  and  subject,  then,  at  the  hands 
of  a  scholarly  theorist,  develop  into  what  are 
known  as  "  movements  " ;  which  movements 
combined  make  up  a  composition  of  large  or 
small  proportions  according  to  the  will  of  its 
maker.  The  due  apportionments  of  these  move- 
ments with  their  subsidiary  parts,  constitute  the 
study  of  Form;  and  without  a  sufficient  knowl- 
edge of  this  branch  of  art  no  one  can  build  up  a 
successful  orchestral  composition  any  more  than 
can  an  incapable  architect  design  a  satisfactory 
edifice. 

We  have  already  seen  how  men  began  making 
*' harmony."  These  rough  additions  to  the  Plain- 
song  were  at  first  controlled  by  no  rules  or  laws; 
yet  gradually  method  and  custom  became  law, 
until  musicians  of  every  European  country  grew 
agreed  generally  upon  theoretical  doctrines. 
"Counterpoint"  was  the  first  step  towards  regu- 
lated melody  and  the  union  of  one  or  more  mel- 
odic parts.  Counterpoint  is  the  art  of  adding 
one  or  more  parts  to  a  given  melody — an  art  in 
which  early  theorists  indulged  with  an  ingenuity 
and  patience  truly  astonishing.  Its  simplest 
aspect*  is  the  setting  of  one  note  in  harmonic 
relationships,  and  according  to  theoretical 
rule,  with  another  note  above  or  below  it.  This 
is  called  Counterpoint  of  the  "first"  species. 
Thus — 


*  Counterpoint  is  divided  into  "  simple,"  or  plain,  and 
"double."  Double  counterpoint  concerns  the  musician  more 
than  the  general  reader,  but  it  may  be  defined  as  a  kind  of 
artificial  composition  where  the  parts  are  inverted  in  such  a 


COUNTERPOINT 


^37 


Counterpoint 


Jfc3tt=:cr=z^z33. 


^ 


Plain  Song  or  Canto  fermo 


X^- 


When  two  notes  are  added  to  one  of  the  sub- 
ject we  get  the  "second  "  species — 

Counterpoint 


'^^ 


Subject 


The  "third"  species  consists  of  three  notes- 
to  one — 


manner  that  the  uppermost  becomes  the  lowermost,  and  vice 
versa.     Here  is  an  example — 


^^^^^^^ 


Tn 


/»         lo 


^£ 


ng^_[iL^^'^ff^fs 


^^P^^ss 


Such  elementary  Counterpoint  applies  merely  to  two- 
part  music.  It  may  be  extended  and  applied  to  almost  any 
number  of  voices  or  instruments,  according  to  the  will  of  the 
worker. 


138         THE  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  MUSIC 
Counterpoint 


^^^^^^^^^! 


Plain  Song 


eEEE 


^cp 


In  the  "  fourth  "  species  we  meet  with  counter- 
point practically  note  against  note  of  the  subject, 
but  with  each  note  syncopated,  i.e.  bound  and 
carried  into  the  following  bar — 

Counterpoint 


=r4: 


e^ 


m 


Theme 


S^ 


s^n^ 


^ 


A  "  fifth  "  species  is  a  mixture  of  those  already 
enumerated — all  the  laws  of  each  order  standing 
good  wherever  the  various  species  are  introduced, 
and  such  are  concerned — 
Counterpoint 


^g%4d:B5s^d=^  M  f  ryn 


Subject 


r^=rr7=^^i^gg^ig 


=ltff: 


^ 


THE   SONATA 


139 


The  early  musicians  did  not  deliberately  set 
about  establishing  "form"  in  music.  It  was  an 
unconscious  growth — quite  unpremeditated — that 
came  about  through  the  natural  evolution  of  tune 
or  melody  and  subsequently  of  harmony.  In 
course  of  time  dance-tunes  became  established 
things,  settling  themselves  into  various  shapes; 
and  it  was  these  earliest  dance  rhythms  which 
constituted  the  germs  of  most  of  the  elaborate 
forms  of  composition  in  modern  music — the  so- 
nata, symphony,  etc.*  In  this  way  the  Rondo — 
the  first  traceable  form  in  music — presented  itself. 
Reduced  to  its  simplest  elements  the  Rondo  is  the 
repetition  of  a  phrase  or  melody  with  a  short  pas- 
sage in  the  middle  connecting  the  two.  Out  of 
the  Rondo  movement  grew  the  Sonata  form,  which 
in  its  turn  gave  off  other  form  branches. 

Before  reaching  the  Sonata  shape  of  composi- 
tion, however,  the  Rondo  form  exhibited  itself  in 
a  series  of  musical  movements  which  settled 
themselves  under  the  title  of  Suites — all  more  or 
less  favoured  dance  forms,  i.e.  a  quick  movement 
and  a  slower  one,  with  a  wind-up  in  a  still  quicker 
movement ;  which  movements,  becoming  more  and 
more  perfectly  handled  by  composers,  eventuated 
in  the  Sonata  form.  From  this  we  may  deduce 
the  law  that  the  Suite  begat  the  Sonata  form  in 
composition,  which  eventually  resolved  itself  into 
a  composition  of  definite  form  and  arrangement. 

*  Such  old  dance  forms  were  the  Coranto,  Allemande, 
Gavotte,  Gaillard,  Gigue,  Sarabande,  Cotillon,  Minuet,  Passe- 
pied,  Polacca,  Pavaine,  Passecaille,  Tarantelle,  Hornpipe, 
Rigadoon,  and  more.  The  student  would  do  well  to  compare 
these  old  forms  with  their  imitations  and  developments  in  the 
works  of  their  adaptors.  The  prototypes  are  invariably 
stronger  and  more  distinctly  marked  than  any  of  the  copies. 


I40         THE  STORY  OF  THE  ART   OF  MUSIC 

While  the  Rondo  as  an  established  art  form 
may  readily  be  met  with  in  the  compositions  of 
Lully  and  Couperin  (1668-1733)  and  earlier  mas- 
ters, strings  of  dance  tunes  or  "  Suites "  date 
from  the  time  of  Edward  III.  of  England.  Most 
of  the  seventeenth  and  early  eighteenth  centuries' 
composers  indulged  in  such  suites-des-pieces.  The 
harpsichord  was  the  favourite  instrument,  but 
suites  were  also  written  for  strings  and  organ, 
violins  and  harpsichord,  with  a  basso  continuo. 
Corelli,  Bach,  Purcell,  Handel,  Scarlatti  and  others 
all  left  Suites. 

'  Sonata  '*  is  an  important  word  in  Music's  his- 
tory because  it  comprehends  and  means  much. 
It  is  at  once  the  name  of  an  established  and 
much  esteemed  form  />er  se  in  musical  composi- 
tion, and  it  is  a  constituent  aspect  of  that  great 
requisite  in  composition — musical  form.  It  be- 
longs entirely  to  instrumental  musical  order — 
there  being  nothing  in  vocal  music  to  which  the 
word  "sonata"  at  all  applies.  The  Sonata  may 
be  described  as  a  composition  to  be  sounded  in- 
strumentally,  not  sung  vocally,  and  it  is  divided 
generally  into  four  different  movements:  (i)  A/- 
legro\  (2)  Andante;  (3)  Minuet  or  Scherzo \  (4) 
Allegro  or  Presto. 

As  an  established  form  by  itself,  it  can  be 
seen  to  perfection  in  the  pianoforte  sonatas  of 
Beethoven,  Mozart,  Haydn,  Clementi,  Hummel 
and  others.  Hence  we  must  regard  it  in  its  bear- 
ing upon,  and  as  a  part  of  that  great  question  of 
form  in  music. 

In  early  times  there  were  two  species  of  Sona- 

*  From  It.  :  Sonare — to  sound.  The  cantata  was  to  be 
sung :  the  sonata  was  its  antithesis  and  had  to  be  played. 


THE    SONATA  I4I 

tas — the  Sonata  di  Chiesa  (Church  Sonata),  and  the 
Sonata  di  Camera  (Chamber  Sonata).  It  was  this 
latter  which  developed  amazingl}'.  Italy,  Ger- 
many, and  England — each  lay  claim  to  its  origin; 
but  no  better  landmark  can  be  found  than  the 
"Twelve  Sonatas  of  three  parts,  two  violins  and 
a  base,  to  the  organ  or  harpsichord,"  which  Pur- 
cell  published  in  1683.  It  has  already  been  point- 
ed out  that  we  owe  the  Sonata  to  the  Suite;  and 
an  examination  of  any  of  the  Sonatas  by  com- 
posers contemporary  with,  or  subsequent  to.  Pur- 
cell  will  show  how  akin  are  its  various  movements 
to  some  one  or  another  of  the  old  dance  forms 
out  of  which  it  grew,  and  of  which  it  may  be  de- 
scribed as  a  regulated  combination. 

In  the  construction  of  a  Sonata,  musicians 
worked  upon  a  plan.  They  adopted  a  form  and 
adhered  to  it ;  and  it  is  this  fixed  form  which 
(on  the  principle  that  the  greater  includes  the 
lesser)  has  been  followed  in  the  construction  of 
the  Concerto,  Overture  and  Symphony. 

The  first  movement  of  a  Sonata  (or  of  a 
quartet  or  symphony)  is  the  Allegro,  and  this 
is  constructed  or  ought  to  be  upon  certain 
definite  form  lines.  It  has  two  subjects,  or 
themes,  which  should  be  as  varied  and  as  much 
in  contrast  as  possible;  the  first  of  these  princi- 
pal subjects  being  in  the  tonic  key,  the  second  in 
the  key  of  the  dominant.  After  establishing  him- 
self in  his  tonic  key,  and  saying  what  he  has  to 
say,  theoretically  and  instrumentally,  with  as 
much  power,  scholarship  and  originality  as  he 
can  command,  the  second  principal  theme  is 
worked  out  according  to  the  utmost  skill  of  the 
composer.  This  process  is  called  the  sonata  or 
binary  form  of  treatment.     It  furnishes  the  basis 


142  THE    STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 

of  treatment  for  all  great  instrumental  composi- 
tions, and  will  be  found  perfected  in  Beethoven's 
Symphonies;  albeit  it  was  one  among  the  many 
directions  in  which  both  Haydn  and  Mozart  ad- 
vanced the  symphony.  Mozart  especially  was  a 
great  adherent  to  this  form;  thirty-three  out  of 
thirty-six  of  his  best  known  sonatas  having  their 
first  movement  in  binary  form.  The  second 
movement  of  a  symphony  or  sonata  is  its  Andante 
or  Largo.  It  usually  has  a  principal  cantabile 
theme — naturally  in  some  related  key  to  that  of 
the  work  itself.  Its  tone  and  style  should  be  in 
strong  contrast  to  what  has  preceded  it.  This  in 
the  Mature  Period  of  the  symphony  is  followed 
by  a  third  movement — a  Minuet  or  Scherzo  \  the 
composition  concluding  with  a  fourth  movement 
— an  Allegro  or  Presto,  written  usually  in  the  same 
key  as  the  opening  movement.  Of  course,  in  a 
symphony  all  the  movements  are  on  a  much 
larger  scale,  and  are  worked  out  with  greater 
detail  and  poetical  intent  than  in  the  pianoforte 
sonata. 

Such  was  the  construction  of  the  Symphony, 
a  model  of  classicism,  as  left  by  Haydn,  its  great 
designer.  His  symphonies  reveal  his  emotional 
world  just  as  he  saw  it.  He  taught  his  instru- 
ments to  speak,  and  associate  one  with  another 
as  instruments  had  never  done  before,  and  in 
work  after  work  we  get  that  simple  naivete.,  irre- 
sistible humour  and  buoyancy  which  immediately 
distinguish  all  Haydn's  music.  The  great  realm 
of  orchestral  expression  and  possibility  was  barely 
thought  of  by  unromantic  "Papa"  Haydn.  Mo- 
zart, on  the  other  hand,  surrounded  his  sympho- 
nies, indeed  all  his  orchestral  music,  with  a  much 
warmer,  varied  and  imaginative  atmosphere.    The 


THE   SONATA  143 

luxuriant,  richly-coloured  instrumentation  of  the 
younger  composer  astonished  listeners  accus- 
tomed to  the  symmetrical,  formal  Haydn.  Every- 
where does  Mozart  show  himself  as  an  advance 
upon  Haydn.  Where  the  latter,  for  instance, 
bases  his  first  movement  on  one  principal  idea 
or  theme,  Mozart,  seeking  greater  contrasts,  as- 
sociates with  his  first  distinctive  theme  a  second 
one — the  latter  much  quieter  and  more  reposeful 
in  character,  than  the  pointed,  clean-cut  principal 
theme.  Mozart  again  is  invariably  the  instru- 
mental superior  in  his  brilliant  passages,  effect- 
ive variations,  exquisite,  elegant  ornaments — in 
short,  in  his  orchestral  breadth  and  wield  gener- 
ally. 

It  was  for  Beethoven  to  take  symphonic  form 
to  its  highest  place.  He  saw  in  music  a  constitu- 
tion and  nature  entirely  different  from  even  a 
poetic  or  plastic  art — opening  a  path  for  Scho- 
penhauer's spirit  and  reasoning.  Beethoven 
stands  out  as  the  master  in  whom  instrumental 
music  fulfilled  its  highest  ideal — the  composer 
who  of  all  others  vindicated  the  true  spirituality 
of  music.  His  impress  upon  the  sonata  form 
consisted  principally  in  the  varied  interest  he 
threw  into  it.  The  warmth  and  elasticity  which 
he  imparted  to  its  stiff,  rigid  form,  gave  it  prac- 
tically a  wholly  new  character.  The  latter  he 
brought  about  mainly  by  a  profuse  exercise  of 
ingenuity  in  working  out  his  subjects;  by  vary- 
ing his  themes  when  repeating  them — so  avoiding 
monotony;  also  by  investing  his  subjects,  when 
once  introduced,  with  intense  contrapuntal  treat- 
ment, and  therefore  interest.  Neither  before  him 
nor  since  has  there  been  his  equal  as  an  exponent 
of  thematic  music — one  who,  giving  vent  to  his 
10 


144         THE    STORY   OF   THE    ART   OF    MUSIC 

thematic  play,  could  build  a  gigantic  movement 
out  of  merely  an  "  idea  "  of  four  notes — as  say  in 
the  opening  Allegro  of  the  '*  Fifth  "  Symphony. 
He  may  be  said  to  have  invented  the  Scherzo 
movement.  Certainly,  he  settled  its  form  and 
character,  and  gave  it  the  permanent  position  in 
the  Symphony  which  it  now  occupies. 


Now  let  us  trace  the  growth  of  the  Orchestra 
and  Orchestration.  Instrumental  music,  as  we 
know  it,  is  of  comparatively  modern  date — little 
more  than  two  hundred  years  old.  Of  course, 
did  space  permit,  we  might  trace  the  relationship 
of  such  ancient  instruments  as  the  pipe  (avAos), 
harp  [apTTo),  sambuca  {a-afji/SvKr}),  etc.  to  certain 
members  of  the  modern  orchestra;  but  such  an 
examination  would  involve  a  book  in  itself.  Nor 
need  much  be  said  here  about  orchestration  prior 
to  the  sixteenth  century,  when  the  art  of  writing 
for  the  voice  was  more  regarded  than  instru- 
mental composition.  In  fact  it  was  not  until 
the  appearance  of  such  heaven-sent  geniuses  as 
Haydn,  Mozart  and  Beethoven  that  the  great 
vista  of  orchestral  conception  and  realization 
was  comprehended  and  compassed.  The  erudite 
musician  is  interested  in  orchestral  germs  and 
developments  long  before  the  age  of  the  Masters 
of  Music  ;  but  for  all  practical  purposes  the  clos- 
ing decades  of  the  sixteenth  century  provide  a 
reasonable  starting-point  for  the  consideration 
of  the  instrumental  as  distinct  from  the  formal 
shaping  of  musical  art. 

Before  that  time  the  instrumental  music  of 
England  would  fairly  well  reflect  the  state  of 
orchestral  art  in  other  European  countries.    Here 


ORCHESTRATION  145 

as  elsewhere,  bands  of  minstrels,  troubadours, 
jongleurs,  giullari,  "  weyghtes  "  (or  "  waits  ")  and 
other  itinerant  performers  kept  up  a  supply  of 
music  for  palace,  castle,  baronial  hall  and  village 
green.  Some  of  these  irregular  musicians  were 
"  retained  " — many  were  not ;  some  took  out 
their  values  in  clothes  and  kitchen  fare.  All 
these  musicians  kept  up  an  extempore  sort  of 
vocal  art — based  largely  upon  tradition — which 
they  accompanied  more  or  less  instrumentally. 
Readers  of  Chaucer  (1328-1400)  know  that  in 
the  time  of  the  "father  of  English  poetry  "  the 
lute,  rote,  crwth  or  fiddle,  sautre,  bagpipe,  cittern, 
ribible,  trumpet,  clarion,  flute,  the  organ,  and  many 
more  were  instruments  in  common  use.  These 
and  many  more  which  Shakespeare  mentions, 
grew  obsolete,  and  disappeared  long  before  the 
golden  age  of  the  masters  of  music. 

During  the  latter  half  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
composers  added  instrumental  parts — accompani- 
ments such  as  could  be  performed  by  a  *'  chest  of 
viols  " — to  madrigals  and  other  vocal  music  forms. 
Between  1600-1650  a  new  fashion  arose.  There 
was  a  divorce  between  vocal  and  instrumental 
music;  the  two  parted  company,  which  proceed- 
ing, becoming  general  over  Europe,  may  be  said 
to  constitute  the  moment  when  instrumental  art 
began  to  be  a  great  and  distinct  factor  in  music. 
It  was  a  supreme  art  moment — this  time  when 
the  idea  of  adapting  musical  ideas  to  the  varied 
capacities  of  instruments  definitely  declared  itself. 
"It  is  scarcely  possible,"  says  an  authority,  "to 
over-estimate  theinfluence  exercised  by  thisbranch 
of  technical  science  upon  the  advancement  of 
modern  music.  The  modifications  through  which 
it  has  passed  are  as   countless  as   the  styles  to 


146  THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF    MUSIC 

which  it  has  given  rise  ;  yet  its  history,  as  recorded 
in  the  scores  of  the  Great  Masters,  proves  the 
principles  upon  which  it  is  based  to  be  as  unalter- 
able as  their  outward  manifestation  is,  and  always 
must  be  variable,  and  subject  to  perpetual  prog- 
ress.* 

It  would  be  interesting  to  show  in  detail  the 
gradual  progress  by  which  orchestral  art  was 
developed  until  it  has  indisputably  obtained  the 
ascendancy.  This  would  be  a  difficult  task, 
however,  especially  at  the  outset  of  instrumental 
growth,  because  there  were  so  many  contributory 
agents  both  in  England  and  on  the  Continent. 
Men  wrote  music  for  which  there  were  no  ade- 
quate instruments;  others  made  instruments  for 
which  no  music  existed;  sometimes  two  men  in 
different  countries  were  developing  and  perfect- 
ing the  same  instrumental  idea  at  one  and  the 
same  time.  Between  them  all,  however,  orches- 
tral music  pure  and  simple,  slowly  appeared  to 
develop  into  a  tremendous  element  among  the 
world's  resources. 

From  the  tenth  century  the  Organ  received 
attention  at  the  hands  of  men  interested  in  me- 
chanical instrumental  development.  Its  gradual 
perfection  went  hand  in  hand  with  that  of  counter- 
point. It  was  left  to  Conrad  Paumann,  however, 
a  Nuremberg  musician  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
to  become  the  first  writer  for  the  instrument. 
Paumann,  although  born  blind,  made  himself 
thoroughly  familiar  with  the  instruments  within 
his  reach,  and  wrote  distinct  organ  music  of  which 
the  following  are  specimen  bars — 

*  Article  on  "  Orchestration  "  (Rockstro),  "  Dictionary  of 
Music  and  Musicians,"  vol.  ii.  p,  567. 


FIRST  ORGAN   MUSIC 


147 


3E 


P^m^^0 


&a 


i 


^m 


a=^=gi 


¥ 


^f^ 


^a 


^ 


rr 


f^ 


^ 


OdU^^ 


^^P^ 


&c. 


These  specimens  of  organ  pieces  must  not  be 
taken  as  representing  the  actual  state  of  organ 
playing.  Such  two  and  three  part  counterpoint 
(and  it  is  somewhat  florid)  was  probably  as  much 
as  fifteenth  century  organs  would  bear — rapid 
execution  and  quick-speaking  stops  were  yet  to 
come.  The  pieces  are  mostly  interesting  as  being 
the  oldest  known  specimens  of  pieces  for  keyed 
instruments — reflecting  the  state  of  counterpoint 
and  the  condition  of  tune  or  melody  at  the  time 
they  were  composed. 

A  spirit  of  mediaevalism  prevailed  in  Germany 


148         THE   STORY   OF  THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 

in  the  fourteenth  and  two  following  centuries,  and 
the  social  life  of  the  people  was  much  influenced 
by  religious  teachings.  By  this  means  the  organ 
became  a  necessity  in  the  home  as  much  as  in  the 
church — and  this  meant  a  growing  demand  for 
organs  and  organ  music.  Makers  of  instruments 
and  composers  sprang  up  throughout  Germany, 
until  in  Frescobaldi  (1587-1654)  with  Bach  and 
his  sons,  the  art  of  organ  playing  and  the  making 
of  music  for  the  organ  reached  their  culminating 
point.  From  that  time  to  the  present  the  history 
of  the  organ  has  been  one  long  series  of  develop- 
ments and  improvements.  Organ  music  has  not 
improved. 

The  first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century  was 
reached  by  a  distinct  orchestral  movement.  Vir- 
ginals had  come  into  use;  the  "chest  of  viols" 
was  an  established  fact  ;  an  Italian  named  Afra- 
nio,  in  15  39,  invented  the  bassoon  ;  and  in  the  fol- 
lowing year  the  Regal,  a  small  portable  organ, 
became  popular  in  England.  Not  that  it  wanted 
more  instruments  to  make  an  orchestra — say  in 
England.  There  was  no  end  to  the  instruments 
there — even  to  Saracenic  instruments  dating  from 
the  time  of  the  Crusades — but  there  was  nothing 
written  for  them.  To  tell  the  truth,  the  orchestra, 
considered  as  an  artistic  element,  was  in  a  state 
of  utter  confusion  all  over  Europe  in  the  sixteenth 
century. 

The  first  to  make  a  deliberate  move  towards 
distinct  orchestration  was  Gabrielli,  whose  crude 
attempts  will  long  preserve  his  name  in  Music's 
history.     His  first  orchestra  was  as  follows — 

1  Violin, 

3  Cornets, 

2  Trombones, 


MONTEVERDE'S   ORCHESTRATION 


149 


which,  subsequently,  he  extended  to 

2  Violins, 

3  Cornets, 

4  Trombones. 

The  earliest  true  dramatic  representation  nat- 
urally affected  the  orchestra.  For  this  opera 
there  was  an  orchestra  of 

I  Harpsichord, 
I  Chitarrone, 
I  Lyre, 
I  Lute. 
When    the  first   oratorio   was  given,   the   or- 
chestra was  as  follows— 

I  Harpsichord, 
I  Lyre  (Double), 

1  Guitar  (Double), 

2  Flutes, 

I  Theorbo  or  Bass. 

Monteverde  made  the  next  advance.  The 
orchestra  that  accompanied  Orfeo  consisted  of 
thirty-five  instruments,  the  performers  upon 
which  would  seem  to  have  played  what  they  liked 
from  a  simple  figured  bass,  which  constituted  the 
chief  part  of  the  accompaniment.  Order  was 
what  the  orchestra  of  Monteverde's  day  mostly 
needed — and  there  shortly  followed  a  better  ar- 
rangement of  instrumental  resources. 

The  favour  with  which  keyed  instruments 
were  received  had  an  indirect  influence  upon  or- 
chestral usage  and  arrangement.  Out  of  the 
virginal  sprang  the  spinet,  clavichord  and,  even- 
tually, the  harpsichord — which  latter  was  no 
sooner  invented  than  it  was  introduced  into  the 
orchestra  to  sustain  the  harmony,  while  the  viols 
and  other  large  stringed  instruments  rendered 
the  thorough-bass.     In  England,  the  virginal  and 


15° 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 


its  offshoots  became  as  popular  as  did  the  organ 
in  Germany,  and  composers — EngHsh,  French, 
German,  and  Italian — soon  began  writing  pieces 
for  keyed  instruments.  None  excelled  English 
musicians  of  the  Elizabethan  age  in  the  compo- 
sition of  these  preludes,  fancies,  dance  tunes  and 
variations — pieces  which  led  up  to  such  estab- 
lished forms  as  the  concerto,  march,  overture, 
quartet,  sonata,  and  finally  the  symphony. 

It  is  not  clear  when  that  wondrous  instrument 
the  violin  was  invented.  It  was  introduced  into 
England  in  1577  when  Baltazarini  was  giving 
performances  upon  it.  The  first  of  the  Amatis 
(Andrea)  was  making  violins  at  Cremona  (1550- 
1577))  ''.nd  before  that  time  they  were  manu- 
factured in  Germany.  In  his  Orfeo  orchestra 
Monteverde  had  Duoi  violi?ii  piccoli  alia  Fra?icese 
— from  which  it  would  seem  that  the  instrument 
had  previously  appeared  in  France  ;  but  an  earlier 
reference  is  made  to  it  in  connection  with  Emilio's 
first  oratorio,  wherein  it  was  recommended  that 
the  violin  should  play  in  unison  with  the  soprano 
voice  throughout. 

One  of  the  earliest  uses  of  the  violin  as  an  ac- 
companying instrument  was  made  by  Cavalli.  In 
his  opera,  //  Giasone,  a  song  has  an  accompani- 
ment of  two  violins  and  a  bass,  such  as  served 
Handel  fifty  years  afterwards.  Scarlatti  com- 
bined two  violins,  viola  and  bass,  and  so  secured 
the  string  quartet  which  has  maintained  its  place 
in  every  European  Music  School  since  the  close 
of  the  seventeenth  century. 

With  the  quartet  of  strings  secured  it  needed 
but  the  growth  of  wind  instruments  to  make  up 
the  modern  orchestra.  They  soon  arrived.  The 
serpent — an  instrument  of  the  clarinet  class,  and 


HANDEL S    ORCHESTRA  151 

now  obsolete,  appeared  in  1390;  in  1690  Denner 
invented  the  clarinet ;  Handel  greatly  favoured 
bassoons  and  oboes ;  Mozart  v^^rote  for  a  new  in-, 
strument  in  the  Conio  di  bassctfo  (Basset-Horn)  ; 
while  the  double-bassoon  found  its  way  into  the 
Handel  Commemoration  Festival,  held  at  West- 
minster Abbey  in  1784.  The  trumpet,  horn,  and 
drum,  were  all  old  time  instruments;  while  such 
basses  as  the  bombardon,  tuba,  and  euphonium 
are  comparatively  modern  additions  to  the  or- 
chestra. 

The  method  of  using  the  orchestra  is,  perhaps, 
more  interesting  than  the  matter  of  its  develop- 
ment. Handers  plan  was  this.  He  made  a 
foundation  of  strings  and  harpsichord,  to  which 
he  added  oboes  often  in  unison  with  the  violins, 
and  bassoons  with  the  string  basses.  Other  in- 
struments were  introduced  for  special  effects. 

Thus,  in  a  pathetic  song  the  flnte-a-bec  would 
be  used ;  in  a  march  he  ordered  trumpets  and 
drums — sometimes,  horns.  He  would  even  go 
to  the  extent  of  having  an  instrument  made  for 
some  special  effect — as  when  he  caused  a  double- 
bassoon  to  be  made  for  his  fagottist,  Lampe. 
Often  he  would  make  all  the  violins  play  in 
unison  with  nothing  but  the  chords  on  the 
harpsichord  between  them  and  the  bass ;  at 
other  times  he  would  use  violas  and  basses  only. 
Sometimes  he  divided  his  violins  into  two,  three, 
four,  or  even  five  parts,  and  his  violas  into 
several. 

Bach  was  far  more  complex,  orchestrally,  than 
Handel,  writing  as  Bach  did  contrapuntally  for 
each  voice  and  instrument.  In  his  treatment  of 
Eifi  feste  Burg  ("  A  Strong  Tower  is  our  God  "), 


152  THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 

the  orchestra  contains  three  trumpets,  one  flute, 
two  oboes,  one  oboe  di  caccia,  two  vioUns,  viola, 
violoncello,  organ  and  figured  bass.  Its  first 
chorus,  vocally  and  instrumentally,  is  truly  repre- 
sentative of  Bach,  as  he  treated  the  Cantata  form. 
Its  effect,  properly  rendered,  is  sublime  and  over- 
whelming, and  may  be  taken  as  a  fair  sample  of 
the  composer's  style  when  he  was  in  full  play. 
His  voices  and  instruments  do  not  reiterate  one 
note  in  each  chord,  but  they  move  about.  Each 
one  is  doing  something  contrapuntally.  This  is 
no  mere  display  of  learning  and  theoretical  skill 
— it  is  the  inward  Bach ;  and  a  close  examination 
of  his  elaborate  works  will  reveal  the  fact  that 
the  greater  the  contrapuntal  task  he  sets  himself, 
the  more  expressive  is  the  music.  Every  kind  of 
orchestral  experiment  was  tried  by  Bach.  Every 
instrument,  with  particular  tone  colour  (many 
are  now  obsolete),  was  selected  to  accompany 
the  voice  parts.  Thus  he  often  took  the  oboe 
d'amore,  taille,  lituus,  violetta,  etc.,  where  more 
commonly  known  instruments  would  equally 
have  served.  A  favourite  effect  of  Bach's  was 
to  accompany  an  aria  by  a  flute  and  muted  violin 
with  the  rest  of  the  strings,  pizzicato  and  the 
organ  part,  staccato.  As  an  orchestralist  Bach  is 
seen  at  his  fullest  in  the  Matthe7v  Passion — 
wherein  double  choruses  and  double  orchestras 
play  parts  such  as  they  never  filled  before.  In 
this  tremendous  work  all  the  resources  of  art  are 
employed  as  only  Bach  used  them. 

From  this  time  the  orchestra  passed  through 
the  hands  of  Haydn,  Mozart,  Weber,  Beethoven, 
and  many  others — all  of  whom  impressed  it  with 
their  varying  distinguishing  characteristics.  Its 
movement   is   an  ever  onward  march,  and  now 


POSSIBLE  ENGLISH   SCHOOL  153 

that  the  boundless  field  of  emotional  art  has  fur- 
nished such  vast  results  it  is  impossible  to  fore- 
cast the  measure  of  the  future  of  orchestral 
possibility.  There  is  a  glorious  prospect  for 
orchestral  tone-painting,  even  if  no  composer 
arises  to  say  some  new  thing  in  Music. 


CHAPTER   IX 

POSSIBLE    ENGLISH    SCHOOL 

■  After  the  Elizabethan  era  English  art  stood 
still  for  fifty  years.  There  were  the  Church 
musicians — Gibbons  (1583-1625) ;  Child  (1606- 
1677)  ;  Wise  (1640-1687) ;  Blow  (1648-1708) ;  also 
Lawes  (1600-1662),  famous  for  his  "Masques" 
■ — the  private  theatricals  of  the  time;  and  Lock 
(1620-1677),  who  has  a  reputation  ioxh\sMacbetk 
Music,  and /'jj^//^,  the  first  purely  English  opera; 
but  no  native  musician  of  importance  arose  until 
Purcell. 

Here  was  a  moment  when  there  was  a  great 
chance  for  the  English  School.  The  country  was 
awakening  to  a  new  sense  of  herself  after  a  long 
period  of  untoward  artistic  conditions.  It  was 
possible  for  the  splendid  status  and  condition  of 
Elizabethan  musical  art  to  be  revived.  Unfor- 
tunately this  was  not  to  be,  despite  favourable 
social  conditions,  and  the  presence  of  a  genius 
with  all  the  power  to  resuscitate  the  native  school 
and  style. 

It  is  deplorable  that  the  English  Mozart  should 
have  been  taken  av/ay  ere  his  powers  even  ap- 
proached their  maturity.    If  we  listen  to  Purcell's 


154         THE    STORY    OF   THE   ART    OF    MUSIC 

Church  music,  and  compare  it  with  the  preten- 
tious blase  productions  of  to-day,  it  is  easy  to 
reaHse  how  much  was  lost  with  his  premature 
decease.  Had  he  lived  it  is  not  impossible  that 
he  might  have  formed,  and  had  pupils  to  carry 
on  an  English  School,  and  that  there  would  have 
been  no  place  for  Handel  in  England.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  Handel  was  largely  indebted  to 
Purcell,  whose  style  and  music  he  assimilated, 
and  made  his  own.  But  for  the  English  master's 
untimely  decease  Handel's  blow  at  native  English 
productivity,  from  which  it  only  began  to  recover 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  might 
have  been  counteracted.  As  it  was,  the  mighty 
Saxon's  overpowering  grandeur  and  strength  quite 
knocked  out  the  English  School  of  composition, 
reinstated  afresh  by  Purcell.  To  say  the  least,  it 
effectually  nipped  it  in  the  bud. 

"To  him,"  as  has  been  well  said,  "  is  due  that 
broad  and  dignified  style  of  music,  which  is  always 
called  English,  and  which  numbers  among  its  ex- 
ponents such  men  as  Handel,  Arne,  Boyce,  Att- 
wood.  Bishop  and  Macfarren ;  not  to  mention 
many  minor  luminaries  who  have  been  more 
directly  under  Purcell's  influence.  Purcell  was 
not  only  the  greatest  composer  of  his  country, 
but  also  of  his  period,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  all  of  his  foreign  contemporaries  are  quite 
overshadowed,  if  not  in  science,  certainly  in  ge- 
nius, by  the  great  Englishman."* 

Purcell  (1658-1695)  stands  the  greatest  light 
among  English  musicians.  Though  his  early  life 
was  spent  entirely  in  the  atmosphere  of  Church 
music,  strange  to  say,  before  he  reached  manhood, 

*  "  Dictionary  of  Musicians  "  (Brown). 


PURCELL 


155 


he  displayed  a  remarkable  capacity  as  a  composer 
for  the  stage.  When  nineteen  years  old  he  sur- 
prised the  world  with  his  opera  Dido  and  y^neas, 
which  was  so  well  received,  that  it  was  forth- 
with followed  by  The  Tefnpest,  Xing  Arthur,  Don 
Quixote,  The  Fairy  Queen,  music  to  CEdipus,  and 
other  dramatic  compositions.  His  youth  and 
capacity  astonished  contemporary  musicians.  It 
was  the  quality  of  Purcell's  music,  as  well  as  his 
fertility,  which  commanded  so  much  admiration 
and  attention  —  and  he  distinguished  himself 
equally  in  sacred  and  secular  art. 

No  one  listening  to  his  *'  Services  "  and  an- 
thems can  fail  to  be  impressed  by  their  beauty  of 
expression  and  powerful  qualities — characteristics 
alike  of  his  dramatic  works.  All  abound  in  fresh- 
ness, vigour,  and  an  originality  which  in  them- 
selves proclaim  him  a  heaven-born  genius.  He  is 
never  else  than  beautiful,  and  to  a  remarkable 
fidelity  of  expression  combines  a  wealth  of  mu- 
sical invention  and  resource. 

The  story  of  music  in  England  from  Purcell's 
time  to  the  present  day  is  one  long  striving  after 
an  English  musical  supremacy,  or,  perhaps,  dis- 
tinctiveness. The  struggle  has  been  important 
artistically.  Every  direction  has  been  tried — 
symphony,  opera,  chamber  music,  church  music, 
song  and  dance;  but,  notwithstanding  the  efforts 
of  the  leading  musicians,  an  agreement  seems  yet 
to  be  wanting  as  to  what  the  English  style  is,  or 
shall  be.  Certainly  no  character  attaches  to  the 
compositions  of  British  musicians  since  Purcell 
that  can  claim  to  be  as  distinctive,  and  peculiarly 
English,  as  was  the  music  of  the  Elizabethan 
Period  musicians.  Nor,  until  that  excellent  model 
— a  wholly  uninfluenced  style — is  persevered  in, 


156  THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 

and  accentuated  by  composer  after  composer,  as 
each  arises,  is  the  national  English  musical  style 
likely  to  be  restored. 

No  nation,  probably,  spent  so  much  money 
upon  music  as  did  the  English  during  the  Vic- 
torian era;  but  the  making  and  buying  of 
pianofortes;  the  equipping  of  orchestras;  the 
building  of  concert  halls  ;  the  success  of  music- 
publishing  enterprises,  and  a  host  of  other  trade 
aspects  of  music  do  not  prove  that  the  country  is 
yet  imbued  with  the  true  musical  temperament. 

Several  native  musicians,  following  Purcell, 
impressed  art  with  their  talent. 

Arne  (1710-1778)  was  an  English  musician, 
standing  between  Purcell  and  Wesley,  who  would 
probably  have  risen  to  greater  things  had  he  not 
been  overshadowed  in  England  by  Handel's  pres- 
ence and  influence.  As  it  was  he  produced 
much  genuine  dramatic  music  with  a  thoroughly 
English  ring,  some  of  which  keeps  the  stage 
to-day — his  Tempest  music  with  its  beautiful 
song  "  Where  the  Bee  Sucks  "  for  instance.  He 
took  music  a  step  onwards  in  his  opera  The  Maid 
of  the  Mill  (1765)  which  was  one  of  the  first 
musical  dramas  since  Purcell's  time,  wherein  con- 
certed music  was  used  to  give  continuity  to  the 
play. 

Wesley  (1766-1837).  This  is  a  cherished 
name  in  English  musical  history — the  first  of  a 
list  of  native  musicians  who,  if  they  have  not  built 
up  a  School,  have  done  infinite  credit  to  the  art 
of  the  nineteenth  century.  Not  even  among  the 
great  masters  is  there  a  more  remarkable  instance 
of  precocious  musical  gifts.  At  the  age  of  three 
years,  Wesley  could  play  and  extemporize ;  at 
five   he   knew   Handel's  Messiah  and  Samson  by 


ENGLISH   SCHOOL  157 

heart ;  and  when  eight  years  old  had  composed 
an  oratorio — Ruth.  Here  at  least,  was  an  English 
musical  genius  who  excited  world-wide  interest. 
Unfortunately,  he  did  not  develop  as  foreign 
musicians  mature  into  a  great  master.  A  classical 
scholar,  he  set  many  Latin  works,  wrote  anthems, 
"services,"  and  much  organ  music;  withal,  and 
although  possessed  of  great  aptitude  for  orchestral 
composition,  he  became  little  more  than  a  cathe- 
dral organist  of  the  highest  order.  His  son, 
Samuel  Sebastian,  inherited  much  of  the  genius 
of  his  father. 

Attwood  (1767-1838),  Crotch  (1775-1847),  and 
Goss  (1800-1880),  maintained  the  traditional  Eng- 
lish Church  style  in  their  sacred  compositions.  It 
is  notorious,  however,  that  nearly  every  composer, 
especially  leading  cathedral  organists  since  Goss, 
have  almost  without  exception  gone  out  of  their 
way  to  invest  their  anthems  and  service-music, 
even  hymn-tunes,  with  an  excess  of  sentimental 
melody  and  a  superfluity  of  unctuous,  anointed 
harmonies  quite  opposed  to  the  spirit  and  ring  of 
true  English  Church  music.  How  can  an  English 
musical  style,  or  school,  be  arrived  at  when  those 
who  should  set  an  example  thus  disfigure  the  one 
aspect  of  their  art  which  they  were  designed  to 
maintain  and  adorn? 

In  Opera — England  has  had  particularly  a 
Bishop  (1786-1855);  Balfe  (1808-1874);  and 
Wallace  (1814-1865) — each  of  whom  may  be 
said  to  have  well  striven  for,  and  even  to  have 
maintained  much  that  was  essentially  British  in 
their  compositions  for  the  dramatic-lyric  stage. 
In  a  more  or  less  degree  this  excellent  plan 
has  been  followed  by  Sullivan  (1844-1900)  and 
Stanford  (1852-         ).'    With  all  their  endeavours. 


158 


THE    STORY    OF    THE    ART    OF    MUSIC 


however,  English  opera  composers  have  not  suc- 
ceeded in  h'fting  that  aspect  of  musical  art  to  any 
very  permanent  position.  Sullivan  succeeded  in 
his   lifetime;    hut   the    most   that    can   be   predicted 


Handel's  Organ. 


STERNDALE    BENNETT 


159 


for  his  operas  is,  that  they  will  survive  as  material 
for  orchestral  fantasias,  rather  than  as  works  for 
stage  representation. 

The  name  of  Bennett  (1816-1875)  will  fitly 
close  this  sketch,  enforcedly  brief,  of  English 
music  and  its  growth.  The  son  and  grandson  of 
musicians,  Bennett  was  a  native  genius;  the 
greatest  since  Purcell — one  who  could  have  raised 
himself  at  the  head  of  a  Modern  English  School. 
Unhappily,  he  again  became  infected  with  for- 
eign influence,  which  proved  his  artistic  curse.  A 
Royal  Academy  student  as  violinist,  pianist  and 
composer — in  all  of  which  he  excelled,  it  grew 
apparent  that  his  great  gifts  lay  particularly  in 
the  way  of  composition.  He  was  only  seventeen 
years  old  when  he  attracted  public  attention,  and 
among  others  who  had  heard  him  play  a  Concerto 
of  his  own  composition  was  Mendelssohn,  who 
thereupon  "took  him  up."  From  that  time,  Ben- 
nett's personality  was  doomed,  and  with  all  he  did 
afterwards  he  developed  into  nothing  more  than 
a  disciple  of  Mendelssohn.  Such  is,  and  practi- 
cally always  has  been,  the  timidity  of  English 
musical  talent.  It  must,  it  would  seem,  rest  itself 
upon  some,  often  inferior,  foreign  prop. 

Either  as  a  composer  of  orchestral  or  vocal 
music  it  may  fairly  be  stated  that  no  other  com- 
poser, save  Purcell,  has  been  Bennett's  equal.  He 
accomplished  much  in  the  serious  departments  of 
art;  but  he  could  unquestionably  have  done 
much  more  had  he  possessed  an  over-ruling  will 
forcing  him  to  compose  and  invent.  As  it  was, 
he  developed  misgivings  of  his  powers — until,  at 
length,  no  less  an  one  than  Schumann  speaking 
of  the  Caprice^  Op.  22,  wrote:  "We  begin  to  fear 
that  Bennett  appears  to  be  spinning  himself  up 


l6o  THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF    MUSIC 

into  a  mannerism,  from  which  he  finally  will  not 
emerge.  Of  late  he  says  always  the  same  things 
only  in  varying  form;  and  the  more  perfectly 
he  has  learnt  to  master  the  form,  the  more  the 
real  invention  seems  to  diminish  in  him."  This 
criticism,  unhappily,  was  borne  out;  and  instead 
of  becoming  a  "  master  "  Bennett  turned  drudge 
and  died  one. 

Bennett's  compositions  include  a  symphony 
for  full  orchestra  (G  minor) ;  several  concertos 
for  pianoforte  and  orchestra  ;  the  Naiads,  Pari- 
sina  diW^  Wood  Nymph,  concert-overtures  for  full 
orchestra;  an  oratorio  —  The  Woman  of  Samaria  \ 
and  the  May  Queen  cantata.  It  is  no  exaggera- 
tion to  say  that  from  whatever  point  the  works 
named  are  regarded  they  stand  unsurpassed  in 
the  whole  range  of  English  music.  There  is  an 
exquisite  finish  and  air  of  refinement  pervading 
all  his  music;  his  use  of  orchestral  resource  is  so 
carefully  adjusted  to  the  demands  of  his  fruitful 
imagination;  his  vocal  music  is  so  beautifully 
balanced,  blended,  and  steeped  with  perfect  local 
colour  that  he  becomes  almost  faultless  as  an  ex- 
pressionist.    His  works  are  full  of  gems. 

With  all  this,  with  his  splendid  gifts,  and  con- 
summate capacity  for  work  he  advanced  musical 
art  neither  in  its  resources  nor  forms.  What  Ben- 
nett can  be  said  to  have  done  is  to  have  strength- 
ened and  developed,  especially  among  his  own 
countrymen,  an  interest  in  the  higher  forms  of  art. 
It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  instead  of  dying  a 
teacher  of  music  he  ought  to  have  parted  from  us 
as  a  second  Mendelssohn.  Macfarren,  G.  A. 
(1813-1887),  was  Sterndale  Bennett's  greatest  na- 
tive contemporary. 


I 


OPERA-GLUCK  TO   VERDI  i6l 

CHAPTER  X 

OPERA GLUCK    TO    VERDI 

Opera  was  left  in  Handel's  hands.  Little 
more  was  done  to  it  until  Gluck  arose;  and  this 
brings  us  again  to  the  French  School  and  its  opera 
workers. 

Gluck  (17 14-1787)  arose  and  reformed  Opera 
for  which  work  he  was  styled  the  "  regenerator  " 
of  Opera.  After  producing  musical  dramas  at 
Milan  and  London,  he  formed  the  acquaintance 
of  a  Florentine  poet,  Calzabigi,  between  whom 
was  evolved  a  work  of  art  which  appreciably 
affected  all  future  opera.  This  work  was  entitled 
Orfeo.  So  strikingly  original  was  Orfeo,  and  so 
different  was  it  to  all  previous  lyric  dramas  that 
it  at  once  commanded  attention,  and  proved  an 
unqualified  success.  The  result  speedily  became 
known  as  Gluck's  "  Reformed  "  Opera.  In  what 
did  this  "  reformed  "  style  consist  ?  In  it  the 
musical  drama  was  released  from  the  restraints 
and  conceits  which  had  long  characterised  and 
hampered  it.  There  was  a  more  general  sim- 
plicity; an  avoidance  of  difficulties  that  tended 
to  indistinctness  ;  a  subjugation  of  the  music  to 
the  poetry,  and  this  with  a  heightening  instead 
of  lessening  of  dramatic  effect.  Alceste  (1769), 
Armida  (1777),  and  Ip/ngema  in  Tauris  (1779), 
emphasized  what  Gluck  had  to  say,  and  soon  he 
won  a  European  reputation  as  the  "saviour"  of 
opera.*     This  position  in  Opera  has  never  been 

*  As  Gluck's  improvements  constitute  an  epoch  in  opera 
development  some  of  his  own  words  are  worth  hearing:   "I 


1 62  THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART    OF   MUSIC 

taken  notwithstanding  it  has  been  boldly  at- 
tacked. 

The  Italians  would  have  none  of  the  new 
notions.  Piccini  championed  the  Italian  School 
— wrote  operas  to  demonstrate  his  cause,  and, 
with  his  party  carried  on  a  most  inharmonious 
war  which  became  famous  as  the  "  Gluck  and 
Piccini  feud."  In  the  end  the  Gluckists  prevailed. 
This  was  the  beginning  of  the  French  School  of 
Grand  Opera  which  has  enjoyed  such  great  dis- 
tinction through  the  dramatic  works  of  Cherubini, 
Auber,  Halevy  and  Meyerbeer  ;  and,  to  take  the 
modern  school  through  the  operas  of  Flotow, 
Gounod,  Offenbach,  Lecocq,  Massenet,  Ambroise 
Thomas,  and  more. 

The  principles  which  Gluck  enunciated  were 
right  enough,  and  it  is  regrettable  that  succeeding 
opera  composers  did  not  adhere  to  them.  Un- 
fortunately he  was  assaulting  an  insuperable  posi- 
tion in  the  overwhelming  vanity  of  human  nature, 
which  always  has  been,  and  probably  will  be,  a 
barrier  to  true  art  expression — especially  in  Music. 
"  Stars  "  will  have  their  show  pieces  in  Opera,  a 
condition  which  composers  seem  powerless  to 
alter.     The  long  list  of  opera  composers  follow- 

proposed  to  entirely  abolish  all  those  abuses  introduced  by  the 
injudicious  vanity  of  singers,  or  by  the  excessive  complais- 
ance of  masters  which  have  so  long  disfigured  the  Italian 
opera.  .  .  .  My  idea  was  that  the  overture  should  prepare 
the  spectators  for  the  plot  to  be  represented,  and  give  some 
indication  of  its  nature  ;  that  the  concerted  instruments  ought 
to  be  regulated  according  to  the  interest  and  passion  of  the 
drama.  ...  My  most  strenuous  efforts  are  towards  noble 
simplicity,  and  the  avoiding  of  a  parade  of  difficulty  at  the 
expense  of  clearness.  In  short — the  banishment  of  all  abuses 
against  which  reason  and  good  sense  have  so  long  protested 
in  vain." 


THE   FRENCH   SCHOOL  163 

ing  Gluck  refused  the  example  he  set  them,  and 
it  was  not  until  Wagner  arose  that  another  reso- 
lute stand  was  made  for  the  cause  of  dramatic 
truth  and  genuine,  unaffected  musical  expression 
in  Opera.  The  Bayreuth  master  stood  the  deter- 
mined modern  apostle  of  an  operatic  method  which 
cast  aside  the  feelings  of  singers  and  public  alike 
for  the  sake  of  a  literal,  ideal,  natural  utterance 
in  musical  drama.  Wagner  more  than  any  master 
since  Gluck,  succeeded  in  combining  the  musical 
and  poetical  elements  of  Opera  m  a  strict  har- 
monious action. 

Space  limits  preclude  a  detailed  account  of  ex- 
cellent work  done  for  Opera  by  composers  of  the 
French  School.  Cherubini  (1760-1842)  wrote 
Med^e,  Les  Deux  Journe'es,  and  other  operas,  but 
they  lacked  dramatic  situation  and  effect ;  and 
when  he  turned  to  Church  music,  the  very  quali- 
ties wanting  in  his  operas  were  too  pronounced. 
His  broad,  vigorous  style  was  marred  by  a  dra- 
matic, theatrical  quality  unsuited  to  ecclesiastical 
music.  AuBER  (1782-1871),  the  composer  of  the 
so-called  revolutionary  opera  Masaniello,  with  his 
elegant  and  sparkling  style,  was  successful  in 
"  Opera-Comique  " — a  form  of  art  well  suited  to 
the  expression  of  French  national  characteristics. 
Halevy  (1799-1862)  gave  promise  of  becoming 
a  "light"  when  he  produced  La  Juive\  but  he 
developed  a  monotony  of  style,  especially  in  the 
reiteration  of  phrases  which  alienated  him  from 
public  favour.  Meyerbeer  (1791-1864)  was  of 
quite  another  order.  He  stands  the  great  architect 
— the  Haussmann  of  French  Grand  Opera.  Les 
Huguenots^  Le  Prophete,  and  L' Africaine  are  operas 
representing  his  brilliant  style,  and  all  told  they 
reflect  the  climax  of  his  country's  dramatic-lyric 


164  THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 

art.  There  is  no  doubt  that  Meyerbeer  appreci- 
ably improved  Opera  in  a  dramatic  sense,  besides 
giving  a  great  impulse  to  its  external  and  spec- 
tacular surroundings.  His  style  is  not  one  of  un- 
qualified originality,  but  for  its  effectiveness  and 
splendour  in  vocal  and  instrumental  contrivance, 
Meyerbeer's  music  could  not  readily  be  surpassed. 
Berlioz  (1803-1869),  who  must  be  mentioned 
here,  only  indirectly  affected  Opera.  He  was  the 
perfecter  of  French  orchestration.  In  his  grand 
orchestral  compositions  the  highest  reaches  of 
orchestral  possibility  have  been  attempted.  In 
such  symphonic  poems  as  La  Damnation  de  Faust, 
L' Enfance  dii  Christ,  the  Symphonie  fantastique 
entitled  Episode  de  la  Vie  d'un  Artiste,  and  the 
Harold  en  Italie  and  Romeo  et  Juliette  symphonies, 
orchestral  tone-painting  has  gone  to  the  fullest 
length  essayed  by  any  French  master.  Free, 
even  bizarre  is  Berlioz's  music,  nevertheless  its 
grand  proportions,  breadth,  richness  and  bril- 
liancy render  it  remarkable.  That  his  vast  orches- 
tral creations,  works  which  command  the  em- 
ployment of  almost  every  instrument  invented, 
constitute  inspired  music  cannot  be  allowed. 
For  their  originality,  ambitious  character,  and 
magnificent  orchestral  embodiments  they  have 
won  their  composer  a  pronounced  position  among 
Music's  greatest  masters.  His  genius  is  con- 
stantly being  questioned  and  disputed;  albeit 
there  is  no  doubt  about  his  being  the  greatest 
instrumentalist  that  France  has  produced.  We 
shall  never  see,  probably,  a  composer  attempting 
more  with  the  aid  of  orchestral  resource  as  a 
painting-agent  than  Berlioz  attempted.  It  is 
quite  possible,  however,  that  musicians  may  yet 
arise,    capable    of    expressing    themselves    more 


CHOPIN  165 

lucidly  and  convincingly  through  instrumental 
channels  than  did  Berlioz. 

Chopin  (1810-1849)  especially  associated  with 
the  pianoforte,  must  go  with  the  French  School. 
He  wrote  no  operas,  but  every  pianist,  every 
musician  knows  the  unique  place  that  this  master- 
artist  occupies  in  music.  By  nationality  a  Pole, 
he  eventually  settled  in  Paris,  where,  partly  owing 
to  his  great  genius,  and  partly  to  his  remarkable 
personality,  he  became  the  centre  of  attraction  to 
a  large  body  of  fashionable  society  and  musicians. 
He  devoted  himself  entirely  to  the  pianoforte, 
and  wrote  a  large  number  of  compositions  which,, 
while  they  made  him  facile  princcps  among  com- 
posers purely  for  that  instrument,  also  revolu- 
tionised the  style  of  pianoforte  rendering.  The 
playing  that  prevailed  was  the  even,  smooth- 
fingering  style.  Liszt,  a  good  judge,  says,  "It  is 
to  Chopin  that  we  owe  the  extension  of  chords,, 
struck  together  in  arpeggio  or  en  batterie ;  in  the 
chromatic  sinuosities  of  which  his  pages  offer 
such  striking  examples ;  the  little  groups  of  super- 
added notes  falling  like  light  drops  of  pearly  dew 
upon  the  melodic  figures."* 

Chopin  was  of  romantic  mould — so,  too,  is  his 
music.  His  Polonaises,  Mazurkas,  Nocturnes, 
Waltzes,  etc.,  all  breathe  a  broken,  melancholy,, 
national  spirit;  which,  combined  with  much  that 
is  tender,  delicate,  and  dreamy  render  them  some- 
thing quite  apart  from  all  other  pianoforte  music. 
The  Polonaises,  strongly  marked  with  Polish  char- 
acter and  colour,  especially  are  characteristic  of 
the  master. 


*  "  Life  of  Chopin  "  (Liszt). 


l66         THE    STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF    MUSIC 

We  left  Opera  in  Italy  with  Monteverde,  whose 
instrumental  forces  and  vocal  accompaniments 
were  well  in  advance  of  all  his  predecessors. 
Handel  improved  upon  Monteverde,  from  which 
time  little  advance  was  made  at  the  great  home 
of  Opera  until  the  advent  of  Spontini  (1784- 
1851).  He  was  gifted  with  an  exceptional  power 
of  treating  masses  of  voices  and  instruments,  and 
no  composer  probably  has  ever  surpassed  him  in 
the  measure  and  extent  of  his  operatic  concep- 
tions. La  F<?i/a/<?  (1807),  Ferdinand  Cortez  [i^og), 
and  Olympic  (181 7)  are  his  representative  works; 
and  anyone  taking  the  trouble  to  examine  these 
scores  will  be  surprised  if  not  startled  at  the 
audacity  of  his  musical  method.  They  abound 
in  remarkable  effects,  as  well  as  in  real  beauty 
of  expression  and  emotional  fervour.  But  his 
powerful  and  brilliant  effects  killed  his  operas. 
His  notion  of  adding  dramatic  action  to  Gluck's 
severe  and  lofty  style,  which  suited  antique 
tragedy,  but  did  not  meet  the  needs  of  modern 
lyrical  art,  was  sound  enough,  had  he  treated 
matters  reasonably  ;  instead  of  which  he  piled 
orchestral  force  upon  force  until,  as  a  wag  wrote, 
there  was  real  danger  of  his  blowing  the  French 
horn  straight ! 

Rossini  (i 792-1868).  Here  we  meet  one  of 
the  most  distinguished  masters  of  the  modern 
Italian  School — one  who  left  a  great  impress  upon 
his  country's  Opera,  especially  in  the  direction  of 
its  melody.  The  growth  of  melody  in  music  can 
be  attributed  to  no  one  School  or  composer,  since 
every  composer  has  had  a  share  in  its  develop- 
ments. Rossini,  however,  played  a  great  part  in 
the  expansion  of  the  melodic  element  of  art. 
Rossini   began    operatic   composition   as  a  pupil 


ROSSINI  167 

of  the  Bologna  Lyceum,  and  went  on  producing 
masterpieces  of  lyric  art  until  the  age  of  thirty- 
seven.  Then  he  suddenly  stopped.  The  only 
important  music  he  afterwards  wrote  was  of  a 
sacred  character — a  Stabat  Mater  and  Messe  Solen- 
nelle,  neither  of  which  are  worthy  the  name  of 
sacred  music. 

//  Barbiere  di  Seviglia  (1816),  Otello  (1816), 
La  Ceneretitola  (1817),  Semiramide  (1823),  and 
Guillaume  Tell  (1829)  are  Rossini's  operatic  mas- 
terpieces ;  and  Williain  Tell  may  be  described  as 
his  chef-d'oeuvre.  In  their  day  these  operas  won 
their  composer  a  popularity  and  fame  unparal- 
leled in  the  case  of  any  other  composer.  This 
unexampled  contemporary  fame  was  wholly  due 
to  Rossini's  remarkable  gifts  in  the  dramatic  and 
melodic  departments  of  opera.  He  had  an  inex- 
haustible talent  for  melody,  and  no  Italian  com- 
poser can  be  compared  with  him  for  his  fine, 
effective,  clearly  and  distinctly  formed  melodies. 
They  abound  in  vocal  ornament  and  vocal  diffi- 
culties— albeit  Rossini  invariably  caught  and  ex- 
pressed the  mood  of  situations  and  characters — 
which  difficulties  become  only  the  more  beautiful 
when  the  accomplished  diva  has  exhausted  upon 
her  scena  all  the  resources  and  irresistible  graces 
of  her  glorious  art.  Rossini  stood  the  very  an- 
tithesis to  Gluck,  and  raised  melody  on  the  highest 
pedestal  as  the  supreme  factor  of  the  Opera. 
For  which,  nineteenth  century  Europe  amply 
applauded  and  enriched  him.  The  art  of  singing 
has,  unhappily,  so  much  declined  that  vocalists 
cannot  readily  be  found  to  sing  Rossini's  operas 
— which  is  one  of  the  reasons  for  their  not  keep- 
ing the  stage. 

Rossini  greatly  strengthened  the  dramatic  side 


1 68  THE   STORY  OF  THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 

of  Opera — he  being  gifted  with  fine  theatrical 
gifts  and  perception.  Among  his  improvements 
of  music  were  the  banishment  of  the  pianoforte 
from  the  orchestra;  the  allotment  of  leading 
parts  to  the  bass  voice;  the  large  addition  of  wind 
instruments  where  was  only  the  string  band  pre- 
viously ;  the  greater  prominence  accorded  to  the 
chorus  element;  the  improved  recitative,  etc.  His 
influence  generally  upon  the  dramatic  music  of 
Italy  was,  undoubtedly,  very  great  and  valuable. 
As  an  orchestralist  he  surpassed  all  his  country- 
men in  lavish  and  varied  colourings.  No  one 
who  has  listened  to  the  overture  of  his  last  and 
greatest  opera,  Giiillaume  Tell,  would  deny  Ros- 
sini's great  capacity  as  an  instrumentalist.  The 
determination  expressed  in  its  strongly  marked 
impetuous  rhythm,  the  rush  and  tear  of  violins, 
the  climax  upon  climax  of  orchestral  expenditure 
— the  power  and  brilliancy  of  the  whole,  are  excit- 
ing indeed.  In  a  more  or  less  degree  this  orches- 
tra! exuberance  and  excess  distinguishes  all  his 
instrumental  accompaniments,  and  often  cover 
harmonical  and  vocal  defects. 

Mercadante  (1797-1870),  Donizetti  (1798- 
1848),  and  Bellini  (1807-1835),  are  three  Italian 
masters,  especially  identified  with  Opera  who 
stand  between  Rossini  and  the  last  great  light  of 
that  school — Verdi.  Each  of  these  composers 
fell  to  duplicating  opera  after  opera  of  the  stereo- 
typed pattern — works  wherein  string  after  string 
of  melodious  tunes  were  connected  together  (with- 
out any  attempt  at  design  or  artistic  proportion), 
and  which  with  a  duet,  trio,  quartette,  and  bois- 
terous chorus  to  conclude  were  held  to  constitute 
"  grand  "  opera.  In  /  Due  Illustri  Rivali,  Merca- 
dante  is  at  his  best.     It  was  in  this  work  that  we 


VERDI  169 

first  meet  with  the  employment  of  brass  instru- 
ments for  emphasizing  accents — an  example  which 
subsequent  composers  followed.  Donizetti  wrote 
dozens  of  operas  of  which  La  Favorita  is,  perhaps, 
the  favourite.  They  burst  with  luxuriant,  beauti- 
ful melody,  interspersed  (all  too  infrequently) 
with  music  of  a  varied  and  sometimes  even  dra- 
matic interest.  Bellini  is  best  known,  perhaps, 
by  the  operas  La  Sonnambula  {^i%2>'^').  Norma  (1834), 
and  L  Furitani  {I'&T)^).  In  them  we  are  still  con- 
fronted with  that  entire  subjugation  of  all  that  is 
reflective  in  music  for  the  sake  of,  seemingly,  inter- 
minable melody,  having  for  its  object  the  pleasing 
of  the  ear  rather  even  than  the  expression  of  the 
dramatic  situation.  The  general  tone 'of  Bellini's 
music  is  towards  the  beautiful  and  idyllic.  If  he 
was  ever  powerful  and  vigorous  it  was  in  Nortna — 
a  result  that  was  mainly  owing  to  Rossini's  advice 
to  Bellini,  to  work  for  more  dramatic  effect  and 
stronger  orchestral  illustration. 

Verdi  (1814-1901)  stands  the  last  of  the  Ro- 
mans. Here  is  an  Italian  who  has  held  his  own 
on  the  operatic  stage,  against  all  comers  for  fifty 
years.  By  genius  and  hard  work  he  gained  celeb- 
rity, and  this  went  on  increasing  until  the  year  of 
his  death.  At  one  time  it  seemed  as  if  Verdi's  works 
would  be  plunged  into  discredit  and  obscurity  by 
the  great  wave  of  Wagnerism  which  carried  every- 
thing before  it  in  the  musical  world.  But  "Verdi 
was  a  musical  power  to  be  reckoned  with.  His 
career  divides  itself  into  three  periods  : — [a)  when 
he  produced  Frnani,  Due  Foscari  and  Nabuco- 
donosor ;  (b)  the  period  of  Rigoletto,  II  Trovaiore, 
the  Traviata,  and  U71  Ballo  in  Maschero ;  {c)  dur- 
ing which  Aida,  Otello,  and  Falstaff,  were  given 
to  the  world.     His  early  operas  were  on  the  anti- 


170  THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 

quated  Italian  model ;  his  second  period  showed 
a  restless  transition  state;  in  the  third  period  he 
is  his  matured  self.  Writing  for  the  space  of  half 
a  century,  he  was  not  insensible  to  the  currents 
of  Time — so  that  in  his  works  we  may  readily 
trace  the  changes  in  fashion  that  Italian  Opera 
went  through  during  the  latter  half  of  the  nine- 
teenth, century.  He  was  the  mere  copyist  of  no 
master. 

Like  Rossini  he  possessed  the  superlative  gift 
of  penetration,  and  was  ready  enough  to  recognize 
the  principles  and  influence  of  Wagner  upon  Op- 
era. Thereupon,  in  old  age,  he  set  about  building 
up  a  national  opera  that  should  represent  Italy  as 
Wagner  represented  German  musical  drama.  In 
this  he  succeeded  signally  with  his  third  period 
works.  Therein  the  principles  of  growth  and  ex- 
pansion in  opera  and  musical  drama  requirements 
are  amply  demonstrated  and  fulfilled.  From  what- 
ever point  of  view  we  study  the  operatic  writings 
of  Verdi  he  stands  the  champion, /a:/-  excellence^  of 
perfect  Italian  Opera. 

Like  the  works  of  his  musical  ft-atelli,  Verdi's 
operas  abound  in  ravishing  melody  combined  with 
forcible  orchestration  which  increased  almost  with 
each  work.  Of  musical  scholarship  and  learning, 
there  was  for  a  long  while  little;  but  in  Aida, 
Otello  and  Falstaff,  Verdi  taught  us  that  he  could 
not  only  write  with  power,  but  that  he  could,  at 
will,  summon  all  the  resources,  vocal  and  instru- 
mental, of  musical  tradition  and  erudition  with  an 
ease  that  is  simply  astounding. 


MODERN   GERMAN   AND    RUSSIAN   MUSIC      17 1 

CHAPTER   XI 

MODERN    GERMAN    AND    RUSSIAN    MUSIC 

The  ramifications  of  musical  art  are  so  com- 
plex, and  its  sphere  so  vast  that  as  long  as  the 
world  lasts  composers  will  be  found  expressing 
their  thoughts  in  music.  Whether  men  or  women 
will  be  created  to  build  up  untried  musical  struc- 
tures, to  invent  new  forms  and  to  break  fresh 
ground  is  another  matter;  but  until  this  takes 
place,  the  art,  it  seems  to  us,  will  remain  very 
much  where  the  last  of  the  tone  giants,  Schumann, 
left  it. 

The  contention  is  that  if  we  survey  Music  to- 
day, whether  as  a  science  or  structure,  it  has  not 
been  advanced  by  any  of  the  so-called  "futurists" 
— a  slight  exception  being  allowed,  perhaps,  in 
the  case  of  Wagner  in  his  manipulation  of  Opera. 
Yet,  after  all,  the  Bayreuth  master  has  only  ap- 
plied modern  machinery  and  artistic  acceptances 
to  the  opera-model  which  Gluck  set  up — a  direc- 
tion wherein  much  that  Verdi  accomplished  (in 
his  last  three  operas)  is  even  more  remarkable 
than  some  of  the  doings  of  Wagner.  Mascagni, 
Leoncavallo,  Boito  and  Perosi  have  not  advanced 
Italian  Opera — they  have  only  added  to  it;  the 
French  school  stands  still;  while,  in  England, 
music  is,  on  the  whole,  being  studied  more  than 
demonstrated. 

The  "master"  period  of  German  music  is  all 
that  art  era  when  Germany  raised  itself  above 
every  other  musical  country.  Its  greatness  is  due 
to  the  original  solidity  of  its  art  basis,  and  to  the 
absence  of  all  superficiality  and  surface  matter. 


172  THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF   MUSIC 

Grasping  the  inner  meanings  and  hidden  prin- 
ciples of  the  tonal  art,  by  their  masterly — it  would 
seem  almost  inspired  —  manipulation  of  these 
forces,  Haydn,  Mozart,  Beethoven,  Schubert,  and 
Schumann  sought  far  into  the  boundless  regions 
of  imaginative  reach  for  their  musical  expression 
— a  love-labour  that  brought  these  great  tone 
poets  eternal,  immortal  fame,  and  lifted  their 
country's  musical  art  to  a  pre-eminence  which 
may  possibly  be  attained  but  which  can  never  be 
surpassed  while  the  mind  of  man  and  musical 
forces  remain  what  they  are. 

This  brings  us  to  the  question  :  "  Have  mod- 
ern musicians  improved  upon  the  art  of  music  as 
they  received  it?"  The  answer  to  this  interro- 
gation we  unhesitatingly  state  to  be — No.  All 
of  us  have  listened  to  Wagner,  Raff,  Dvorak, 
Rubinstein,  Liszt,  Brahms,  Tschaikowsky,  and 
more.  If  we  except  Brahms,  we  can  find  nothing 
genuinely  new  in  them.  They  only  say  merely 
the  old  things  over  again  in  their  various  man- 
ners and  according  to  their  national  characteris- 
tics. Such  modern  music  is  surprising,  even  re- 
markable ;  yet,  though  it  be  at  moments  arrest- 
ing, it  is  rarely  sublime,  and  the  orchestral  effects 
obtained  lack  the  'master'  ring,  while  that  lofty 
impressiveness  which  makes,  for  instance,  Bee- 
thoven's music  especially,  such  a  thing,  apart 
from  all  others,  is  never  attained.  Though  Wag- 
ner has  sought  after  it,  we  miss  in  his  music  that 
peculiarly  inward  and  spiritual  feeling,  that  seems 
to  be  in  touch  with  the  infinite,  which  pervades 
Beethoven's  tones.  Brahms  staggers  us  with  his 
heaped-up  massive  orchestration,  but  the  inspired, 
soul-moving  power  is  limited.  Tschaikowsky, 
with  his  weird  and  wild  tearings,  arrests  and  com- 


MUSIC  OF  THE   FUTURE 


173 


mands  the  attention  mainly  because  all  is  so 
mightily  fantastical,  but  this  extravagant,  imagina- 
tive music  does  not  loiter  about  the  soul.  Nor, 
when  it  has  been  listened  to  attentively,  does  it 
make  one  feel  spiritually  strengthened. 

We  must  not  always  be  serious  in  music,  of 
course,  and  the  imaginative  mind  must  have  its 
secular  play,  even  if  tonal  resource  be  employed 
to  illustrate  the  colossal  proportions  and  solidity 
of  a  mountain,  or  the  antics  of  a  cork  on  the 
surface  of  the  ocean.  What  has  to  be  decided, 
however,  is  whether  the  so-called  "music  of  the 
future  "  will  displace  the  classics  of  music.  We 
say — No  !  Our  chief  contention  is  that,  taken 
in  the  bulk,  its  great  falsity  is  that  it  is  not  co7i- 
vincing,  and  art  of  any  kind  that  is  not  convincing 
can  never  become  permanent.  Nor  does  it  tell 
us  much  that  we  have  not  heard  or  realised  be- 
fore. Even  Mendelssohn  has  given  us  as  good 
wild,  romantic,  imaginative,  tone-painting  in  his 
"Italian"  and  "Scottish"  Symphonies  as  have 
Tschaikowsky  and  other  orchestral  romanticists 
of  Russia  and  the  Slavonic  countries,  who  make 
the  tonal  description  of  scenes  and  characteris- 
tics of  their  various  countries  their  speciality 
rather  than  the  musical  expression  and  exposition 
of  the  emotions  which  belong  to  humanity.  The 
fine  scholarship  and  thematic  treatment  which 
distinguish  the  works  of  the  great  German  mas- 
ters, and  make  their  various  scores  so  interesting 
to  the  reflective,  academical  mind,  disappear  in 
this  "up-to-date"  art.  Tremendous  unisonal 
sweeps  of  full  orchestra,  varied  with  thundering 
concussions  of  instrumental  force,  yet  with  an  al- 
most entire  disregard  of  contrapuntal  resource 
and  play,  cannot  constitute  highest  musical  art. 


174 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  MUSIC 


It  may  all  be  effective,  and  it  is  remarkable  tone 
colouring,  but  it  is  only  a  return  to  the  joyous, 
brilliant,  rhythmic  style  of  the  Guillaume  Tell 
Overture.  Such  art-work  does  not  fulfil  the  high- 
est mission  of  music.  It  does  not  constitute  any 
progress  in  music,  resolving  itself  rather  into  a 
pleasant  accessory  to  much  of  far  nobler  design 
and  build  already  with  us.  In  a  quite  modern 
programme  appears  the  following  description  of 
Tschaikowsky's  Capriccio  Italien  (Op.  45) — a  de- 
scription which  explains  alike  the  character  of 
much  of  this  latter-day  descriptive  music,  and 
something  of  the  manner  in  which  it  is  formu- 
lated and  treated — 

"  The  Italian  Capriccio  is  based  on  melodies 
that  reflect  the  style  of  the  folk-songs  and  dances 
of  Italy.  It  opens  with  an  Andafite,  the  chief 
theme  of  which  is  ushered  in  by  a  trumpet-call 
and  a  series  of  chords.  When  this  melody  has 
been  developed  and  repeated,  a  second,  of  lighter 
character  (which  is  afterwards  used  in  a  glorified 
form  towards  the  close  of  the  piece),  claims  at- 
tention. Treatment  of  this  leads  to  an  Allegro 
moderato,  based  on  two  striking  melodies,  well 
contrasted  as  regards  rhythm.  The  opening  An- 
dante now  returns,  and  is  followed  by  a  Tarantella 
movement,  worked  out  with  great  skill  and  vi- 
vacity, and  eventually  giving  way  to  the  glorified 
version  of  the  second  theme,  already  referred  to. 
A  repetition  of  the  Tarantella  brings  the  piece  to 
a  brilliant  finish." 

Liszt  (1811-1886)  was  among  the  few  kin- 
dred spirits,  who  in  1849  met  at  the  Court  Theatre, 
Weimar,  and  there  discussed  that  style  of  music 
which  drifted  into  the  "  School  of  the  Future,"  a 
species  of  art  which  has  developed  widely  through- 


LISZT  175 

out  Europe.  Liszt  became  an  "  apostle,"  and 
through  life  he  stood  one  of  the  staunchest  of 
the  advocates  of  Wagner  theories.  Liszt  was 
not  so  much  an  expressionist  as  an  expositor. 
He  posed — rather  than  composed  ;  but  this  state- 
ment is  made  not  slightingly,  but  to  explain  that 
he  was  an  interpreter  rather  than  a  creator. 

An  Hungarian  by  birth,  his  music  breathes  that 
romantic,  far-soaring,  unbridled  character,  which 
seems  to  be  inseparable  from  the  Hungarian 
temperament.  He  took  up  the  pianoforte,  and 
through  it  expressed  himself  even  more  emphati- 
cally than  upon  score-paper;  indeed,  if  we  except 
Rubinstein,  it  would  be  difficult  to  name  one  who 
has  brought  a  more  striking  individuality  into 
play  on  this  unconquerable  instrument.  As  an 
interpreter  of  Beethoven,  as  well  as  of  composers 
of  the  advanced  school,  he  has  had  no  equal. 
His  execution  and  expression  were  his  alone,  and 
had  he  remained  only  an  expounder  of  other  men's 
compositions,  his  name  would  still  be  that  of  a 
wonderful-art  personality. 

Liszt's  early  compositions  were  mostly  oper- 
atic transcriptions,  remarkable  alike  for  their 
fulness  and  brilliancy,  and  for  the  demands  they 
made  upon  the  technique  of  pianoforte  playing. 
Later  on — in  his  mature  period,  he  furnished  proof 
of  extraordinary  creative  power,  exemplified  in  a 
series  of  masterly  orchestral  works,  which  include 
the  "Faust"  and  "Dante"  Symphonies;  sym- 
phonic poems,  or  musical  treatment  of  Tasso's 
Larnetito  e  Trionfo,  Die  Ideale  (Schiller),  Mazeppa 
(Hugo),  Hamlet,  Froynetheus,  and  more.  Other 
important  orchestral  music  were  two  Concertos 
(in  E  flat  and  A),  several  Hungarian  Rhapsodies 
and  Festal  Marches.     In  vocal  music  he  set  the 


176         THE   STORY  OF  THE   ART  OF  MUSIC 

Oratorios  S/.  Elizabeth,  Christiis,  the  Cantata  St. 
Cecilia,  and  some  lesser  works. 

The  striking  feature  of  Liszt's  compositions  is 
the  immense  emotional  quality  and  boldness  of 
flight  which  characterise  them.  An  actual  origi- 
nality cannot  be  so  generally  allowed  ;  but  their 
intrepid  tone  and  aspiration  quickly  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  musical  world.  Opinions  differ 
as  to  whether  such  exceptional  creations  were  real- 
ly an  embodiment  of  true  art  principles,  or  whether 
they  furnish  the  key  to  a  fresh  realm  of  art  of  in- 
definable limit.  Liszt's  tonal  vagaries,  in  truth, 
were  variously  regarded  as  triumphs,  miscarriages, 
rhapsodical  absurdities;  and  to-day — now  that 
the  "  future  "  school  has  had  a  fair  trial — much  of 
the  same  divided  opinion  exists.  When  a  com- 
poser, even  a  genius — and  Liszt  was  a  genius — 
forsakes  what  is  academical  in  art,  for  what  can 
only  be  termed  rhapsodical  (even  though  this  be 
to  advance  the  doctrines  of  a  new  religion),  he 
can,  after  all,  only  be  judged  by  the  law  of  things 
as  this  is  generally  accepted  and  understood. 
Considered  from  this  standpoint,  and  allowing  for 
the  ambitions  of  the  advanced  school  of  musical 
thought  and  expression,  Liszt  is  little  more  than 
a  splendid  imitator  and  supporter  of  Wagner. 

Raff  (1822-1882)  is  notable  for  much  sym- 
phonic music  of  a  very  high  order.  His  versatil- 
ity, originality  and  resource,  together  with  a  rare 
power  of  welding  melody  and  harmony  of  the 
most  intricate  kind  reflect  the  mind  of  a  true 
genius  Rubinstein's  (1829-1S94)  music  is  of 
great  merit,  partaking  more  of  Mendelssohn's 
style  rather  than  that  of  much  of  the  advanced 
music.  It  is  not  so  well-known  as  it  deserves 
to  be — if  we  may  judge  of  it  from  the  "  Ocean  " 


WAGNER  177 

Symphony,  a  Pianoforte  Concerto  in  G,  and  his 
Sonata  in  D,  for  Violoncello,  which  have  been 
performed  in  lingland.  As  a  pianist,  he  was  a 
wonder — as  great  almost  as  Liszt.  Brahms  (1833- 
1897)  must  be  accounted  the  greatest  German 
master  since  Schumann.  His  music — and  it  em- 
braces almost  every  form  of  art — does  not  be- 
long to  the  "  Future  "  School.  It  is  nevertheless 
marked  with  an  extraordinary  yearning  after  emo- 
tion and  expression,  which,  at  times,  is  carried  to 
such  a  degree  of  intensity  that  it  then  becomes 
difficult  to  enjoy.  He  possessed  a  peculiar  gift 
of  submitting  his  themes  to  a  rare  degree  of  finish, 
and  it  is  this  fine  thematic  treatment  which  raises 
him  high  above  latter-day  composers.  To  much 
original  figure  and  harmony  he  couples  a  style  of 
severity  and  asceticism  which  seems  peculiarly  his 
own.  At  moments  he  is  barbarously  noisy,  and 
this  orchestral  massiveness  is  perhaps  his  chief 
weakness. 

TsCHAiKowsKY  (1840-1893).  This  talented 
man  gave  the  world  much  orchestral  music  of 
the  most  advanced  kind,  strongly  marked  with 
the  Russian  character  and  element.  Its  emo- 
tional workings  are  intense. 

Now  to  Wagner  (1813-1883).  Here  we  have 
the  most  discussed — criticised  character  in  all 
musical  history — inasmuch  as  he  was  one  of  the 
world's  greatest  musical  minds;  then  he  was  un- 
rivalled as  an  art  iconoclast;  and  finally,  had  the 
fortune  to  live  in  a  critical  age — an  age  much 
more  given  to  the  disputative  rather  than  creative 
faculty  in  Music. 

Wagner  was  a  many-sided  genius.  Had  he 
wholly  eschewed  Opera,  his  instrumental  music 
which  is  of  a  very  high  order,  entitles  him  to  rank 


178         THE  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  MUSIC 

among  the  greatest  orchestral  creators.  Hardly 
less  celebrated  is  he  as  a  writer — his  many  vol- 
umes forming  a  most  important  contribution  to 
the  critical  literature  of  his  country.  His  ideas 
upon  music  and  the  opera-drama  are  distinctly 
more  valuable  than  is  his  social  philosophy.  The 
main  work  of  his  life,  however,  was  an  endeavour 
to  revolutionize  the  accepted  system  of  Opera  and 
to  demonstrate  his  views  by  his  works.  The  mu- 
sical world  has  from  the  outset  been  divided  as  to 
the  soundness  and  worth  of  his  measures  and 
methods. 

Wagner,  like  humanity  before  him,  began  to 
do  and  say  everything  in  the  old  way.  His  early 
operas  Die  Feen  (1833)  ;  Das  Liebesverbot  (1836) 
and  Rienzi  (1842)  were  framed  upon  the  accepted 
lines  of  opera.  Then  came  Die  Fliegende  Hollan- 
der (1843)  and  Tannhduser  (1845) — from  which  it 
was  clear  that  a  change  had  come  over  their  com- 
poser's mind.  Lohengrin  (1850)  emphasized  this 
art  change,  and  then,  gradually,  Wagner  led  up  to 
Tristan  und  Isolde  (1865),  Die  Meister singer  von 
Niirnberg  (1868),  Der  Ring  des  Nibelungen  (1876), 
and  Parsifal  (1882), 

What  was  Wagner's  mission  ?  Briefly  stated 
it  was  the  abolition  of  Opera  as  treated  by  his 
predecessors,  and  the  substitution  of  a  new  form 
of  dramatic  art  work  exemplified  in  his  own  oper- 
atic works.  The  idea  was  excellent — Wagner 
was  not  its  originator,  however,  much  as  he  carried 
it  out.  Gluck  first  prompted  a  revolution  which 
he  could  not  realize,  because  the  musical  mind  and 
materiel  of  his  day  were  not  equal  to  it.  Bee- 
thoven, in  one  of  his  moods  of  discontent,  wrote : 
"  If  I  were  to  write  an  opera  after  my  own  mind, 
these  people  would  run  away,  for  they  would  find 


MODERN   GERMAN    MUSIC  179 

in  it  none  of  the  arias,  duets,  terzets,  and  all  the 
stuff  with  which  the  ordinary  operatic  patch-work 
is  made  up."  Here  was  the  fundamental  principle 
of  all  Wagner's  art-theories.  If  Beethoven  instead 
of  Wagner  had  worked  it  out,  we  would  have  been 
in  possession  (we  believe)  of  a  perfect  musical 
drama.  As  it  was,  the  work  was  undertaken  by 
the  great  reformer,  essayist  and  insurrectionist, 
Wagner — the  composer  whose  statue  was  once 
adorned  by  a  laurel  wreath  on  the  head,  and  a 
hempen  cord  round  the  neck — because  its  owner, 
a  Jew  banker  of  Frankfort  greatly  admired  the 
music  of  Wagner,  but  had  an  ardent  antipathy  for 
its  maker. 

Wagner  was  not  a  reformer  of  music,  but  only 
of  Opera — of  the  use  and  application  of  music  to 
dramatic  poetry.  He  possessed  the  idea  that  a 
modern  German  yEschylus — a  composer  as  well 
as  poet — could  best  make  Opera  what  it  should 
be,  and  place  it  in  its  lawful  position.  Everything 
artistic  was  involved — music,  poetry,  painting, 
architecture,  even  sculpture.  All  was  to  be  uni- 
fied with  the  one  end  and  aim  of  obtaining  the 
highest  and  most  complete  dramatic  expression. 
This  was  styled  "  Art-work  of  the  Future." 

The  conception  was  excellent,  if  not  original, 
and  only  needed  realization  and  an  universal  ac- 
ceptation. No  doubt  a  .composer  is  at  a  great 
advantage  if  he  can  be  his  own  librettist,  for  mu- 
sical history  abounds  with  instances  of  composers' 
discontent  with  their  libretti;  some  masters  having 
left  us  without  operas,  because  of  their  inability 
to  find  suitable  matter  to  set.  Wagner's  books 
soon  made  it  clear  that  the  conventional  form  of 
solo,  duet,  trio,  quartet,  were  to  be  banished,  and 
a  less  disjointed  opera  evolved.     One  great  and 


•l8o         THE  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  MUSIC 

valuable  feature  characterised  the  new  kind  of 
musical  drama.  There  was  a  closer  union  between 
the  poetry  and  mjsic,  and  the  artistic  balance, 
one  part  with  another  was  immensely  improved. 
All  was  tied  together  by  the  much  discussed  leit- 
motive,  a  species  of  musical  phrase.  P'or  a  long 
while  it  was  understood  that  these  leit-motives  were 
invented  to  distinguish  the  personages  in  his 
dramas.  Not  quite.  "  They  stand  for  deeper 
things,  for  the  attributes  of  the  play's  characters; 
for  the  spiritual  as  well  as  the  material  develop- 
ments of  the  plot ;  for  the  fundamental  passions 
of  the  story." 

Formally,  then,  the  main  difference  in  Wagner's 
operatic  method,  and  all  others,  was  the  exchang- 
ing of  melody  and  the  cavatina  form  for  con- 
tinuous declamatory  recitative.  These  modifica- 
tions supported  by  a  vast  command  of  powerful 
instrumental  resource, original,  andwholly  peculiar 
to  the  master  were  applied  to  musical  drama. 
Wagner  completed  the  reform  which  Gluck,  in 
classic  opera,  began  a  century  before  him — the 
modern  reformer  having  romantic  opera  upon 
which  to  centre  his  genius. 

The  Wagner  struggle,  even  for  an  existence, 
was  a  tremendous  and  bitter  controversy  of  a 
quarter-century  back.  In  German  society  it  was 
long  considered  a  breach  of  good  taste  to  men- 
tion Wagner's  name;  while  the  reception  of  his 
music  in  England  was  far  from  encouraging. 
"The  composer  of  Lohengrin  is  an  anti-melodious 
fanatic,  and  every  new  opera  of  his  has  become 
more  and  more  tedious,  noisy,  and  abstruse." 
"  Wagner  is  no  artist,  either  in  taste  or  creative- 
ness.  I  do  not  believe  a  single  work  of  his  will 
survive;  Tannhduser  will  disappear  after  the  second 


WAGNER  NEEDED  l8r 

performance."  "  The  Fliegende  Hollander  overture 
is  an  infernal  racket,  and  has  made  me  sea-sick." 
Such  were  the  opinions  of  the  critics  upon  the 
advent  in  England  of  Wagner's  music.  To-day 
Wagner  has  a  complete  hold  of  opera-goers  and 
the  general  musical  public — a  hold  which  is  in- 
creasing rather  than  diminishing. 

It  must  be  allowed  that  Wagner,  if  not  entirely 
successful  in  his  task,  has  established  an  opera 
example  for  all  future  composers.  The  world  has 
only  to  decide  whether  it  will  have  the  perfected 
Verdi  or  Wagner:  whether  the  old  Italian  model, 
brought  up  to  date,  as  in  Aida,  Otello,  and  Falsfaff, 
and  still  with  an  abundance  of  melodic  element — 
or  the  modern  German  opera  with  all  its  artistic 
fitness  shall  henceforth  obtain.  Possibly  there 
will  be  found  room  for  both,  inasmuch  as  with  all 
the  art  proprieties  of  Wagner,  human  nature  will 
reluctantly  ever  part  with  melody.  When  the 
Italians  give  up  melody  in  their  operas  then  the 
W^agner  theories  will  have  a  better  opportunity, 
than  they  yet  have,  of  an  universal  acceptance — 
but  not  till  then. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  Wagner  was  much 
needed.  The  absurdities  and  incongruities  into 
which,  in  many  respects,  Italian  Opera  had  been 
allowed  to  lapse  were  opposed  alike  to  reason  and 
good  taste.  The  subordination  of  the  orchestra 
to  the  voice,  which  meant  tame,  insufificient,  and 
general  inefficient  instrumentation  ;  the  pervading 
statuesqueness  and  unreality  ;  soloists  singing  and 
gesticulating — not  to  each  other  but  to  the  occu- 
pants of  the  stalls  and  gallery  ;  incongruities,  like 
heart-broken  lovers  separating  for  ever  at  the 
close  of  a  duet,  only  to  return,  hand  in  hand  be- 
fore the  curtain,  to  be  the  recipients  of  plaudits- 


1 82  THE   STORY   OF   THE   ART   OF    MUSIC 

and  bouquets;  choruses  presenting  themselves  in 
soUd  phalanx  at  the  footlights  to  sing,  not  act 
their  part,  to  the  audience  in  front  of  them — these, 
and  many  more  defects  marked  Italian  Opera.  No 
wonder  all  dramatic  effect  was  lost,  for  all  dramatic 
pretence  was  suppressed.  What  the  audience 
wanted  was  tune,  and  it  was  content  to  wait  for  it 
until  the  leading  singers  in  the  piece  came  forward 
and  treated  them  to  it,  in  successive  instalments. 
Italian  lyrical  opera  had  drifted,  in  fact,  into  a  sort 
of  costume  recital  wherein  each  lady  and  gentle- 
man soloist  entered  into  rivalry  with  show  songs 
to  show  off  their  voices  and  increase  their  salaries. 

Artistically  minded  people  rebelled  against  this 
— and  among  them  was  Wagner.  Hence  his  creed 
and  maxim.  "  Far  from  the  madding  crowd,"  he 
built  a  model  theatre  wherein  his  high  ideal  of 
music-drama  could  be  secured.  Once  there  he 
felt  he  could  "  hypnotise  "  his  admirers  into  that 
frame  of  mind  essential  to  the  mental  reception 
of  good  music.  At  Bayreuth  he  carried  out  his 
great  reforms — producing  work  after  work  em- 
bodying his  high  artistic  principles.  He  placed 
the  orchestra  out  of  sight ;  lowered  the  lights 
everywhere  in  the  house,  except  on  the  stage; 
drew  his  curtains  aside  instead  of  raising  them; 
abolished  all  encores  and  applause  throughout  the 
acts;  made  his  performers  and  chorus  ignore  the 
audience,  and  confine  their  minds  and  voices  to 
the  stage;  subordinated  the  vocal  part  of  opera 
to  the  instrumental — in  short,  he  left  no  material 
device  and  method  untested  in  order  to  secure  the 
success  of  his  system  of  reform. 

Rienzi  reflected  little  of  his  new  notions.  In 
the  Flying  Dutchman  and  Tannhduser  he  spoke  like 
a  changed  man,  although  the  composer   himself 


WAGNER'S   IDEAL  183 

took  care  to  state  that  these  works  did  not  rep- 
resent his  ideal.  Lohengrin  wa?  a  distinct  ad- 
vance upon  Tannhdiiser,  so  much  so  that  when  it 
was  first  produced  in  London  (1875)  talented 
musicians  could  not  understand  music  which  to- 
day is  intelligible  to,  and  admired  by  all  who  hear 
it.  In  Tristan  und  Isolde  and  the  Meister singers 
was  given  the  full  embodiment  of  Wagner's  real- 
isation of  what  opera  should  be.  His  enormous 
four-fold  work,  Der  Ring  des  Nibelungen,  and  final- 
ly, Parsifal — the  last  and  in  many  respects  the 
greatest  of  his  creations — are  a  full  and  complete 
enunciation  of  Wagner's  views  and  principles. 

With  something  of  strange  irony,  Wagner  died 
at  Venice — in  the  land  whose  Opera  was  so  repel- 
lent to  him.  He  lived  long  enough,  however,  to 
witness  a  world-wide  interest  in  his  methods,  and, 
to  some  extent,  an  acceptance  of  his  principles. 
His  reputation  has  gone  on  increasing,  but  he  has 
not  seriously  imperilled  Italian  Opera.  Wagner 
was  not  a  composer  of  the  calibre  of  Beethoven  ; 
for,  where  the  one  master  realised  the  highest 
spiritual  beauty  and  nobility,  the  other  can  only 
be  said  to  have  aspired  thereto.  Wagner's  in- 
fluence has  been  enormous — his  orchestral  meth- 
ods especially  capturing  the  minds  of  his  follow- 
ers. Here,  however,  his  boldness  and  brilliancy 
of  instrumental  purport  and  application  do  not 
reach  consistently  the  level  of  the  highest  orches- 
tral expression.  In  his  straining  after  startling 
original  effects  he  is  often  unintelligible,  and  pro- 
duces the  feeling  of  an  inability  to  express  him- 
self sufficiently.  Whether  the  great  tone  reformer 
will  prove  to  be  an  epoch-maker  in  Music's  history 
remains  to  be  seen.  It  appears  improbable  and 
impossible. 


INDEX 


A. 

Abel,  12. 

Aboriginal  British  Music,  28. 
Abu  //assan,  124. 
Accompaniments,  Schubert's  Song, 

127. 
Adam  de  la  Hale,  44,  49. 
Additional  Accompaniments,  iii. 
iElfheah,  36. 
Afranio,  148. 
Agrippina,  98. 
Aida,  169,  170-181. 
Alceste,  161. 

Alfonso  imd Estrella^  125. 
Alfred,  King,  64. 
Amseboeus,  25. 
Amati,  150. 
Ambrose,  St,  32. 
Anerio,  68,  77. 
Angehis  ad  Virginenty  65. 
Anthem,  Displaces  the  Motet,  81 ; 

Henry  VUI  and,  83;    the   First 

Period  Style  of,  83-84. 
Antigenidas,  25. 
Apollo,  27. 
Arcadelt,  76. 

Aj^iA,  Scarlatti  and  the,  73. 
Aristoxenus,  23. 
Arinida,  161. 
Ame,  154,  156. 
Asaph,  20. 
Assyrian  Music,  20. 
Attwood,  154,  157. 
Auber,  162,  163. 
Augustine,  St,  32. 

B. 

Bach,  73,  86,  90,  104,  no,  114,  131, 

135,  140,  148,  151. 
Bach  (E.),  115,  121. 
Bach  (J.  C.),  116. 


Balfe,  log,  157. 

Baltazarini,  150. 

Bassoon,  112,  148. 

Bateson,  78. 

Bjde,  30. 

Beethoven,  29,  87, 102, 109, 112,  113, 
115,  118,  iig,  121,  122,  124,  125, 
126,  129,  130,  131,  13s,  140,  142, 

143.  144,   152,  172,  17s.  »78,  179^ 

i83._ 
Bellini,  168,  169. 
Benda,  115. 
Benedict  Biscop,  39. 
Benet,  78. 

Bennett  (S.),  87,  109,  122,  159. 
Berlioz,  87,  114,  122,  164. 
Bernhardt,  57. 
Binary  Form,  141. 
Bishop,  154,  157. 
Blow,  153. 
Boccherini,  109. 
Boethius,  29. 
Boieldieu,  85. 
Boito,  171. 
Booke  of  Common  Prater ,  Nottd^ 

67-    .   . 
Bottesini,  109. 
Bouffons,  Les,  86. 
Boyce,  154. 
Brahms,  122,  172,  177. 
British  Musical  Instruments,  Early^ 

51- 
Bull,  66,  90. 
Buononcini,  73. 
Bumey,  40. 
Busby,  54. 
Byrde,  66,  77,  78,  81,  82,  83. 


c. 


Caedmon,  39. 
Cain,  12. 
Caldara,  73. 


i86 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  MUSIC 


Calzabigi,  i6i. 

Canon,  53. 

Cantatas,  Bach's,  53._ 

Cantus  Firmus^  Shifting  the,  59. 

Carissimi,  70,  j8. 

Cavaliere,  Emilio  del,  61. 

Cavalli,  150. 

Caxton,  67. 

Chamber  Music,  Origin  of,  78 ; 
Haydn's,  106 ;  Purport  of,  106 ; 
Haydn  as  a  composer  of,  107  ;  the 
"  strings  "  in,  107  ;  materiel  of, 
108  ;  Beethoven's,  114;  Mendels- 
sohn's, 129. 

Charlemagne,  32,  39. 

Chatelain  de  Courcy,  49. 

Chaucer,  64,  145. 

Cherubini,  87,  122, 128, 162,  163. 

Child,  153. 

Chinese  Music,  28. 

Chopin,  108,  165. 

Choral,  63,  93,  95. 

Choral  Symphony,  The,  J21. 

Christmas  Oratorio^  95. 

Christus,  176. 

Chrysostom,  St,  32. 

Cinnor,  or  Kinnor,  i8. 

Clarinet,  151,  114. 

Clavichord,  94. 

Clefs  and  Staff,  34. 

Clementi,  140. 

Cleopatra,  16. 

Concerto,  115. 

Constantine,  32. 

Corelli,  115,  140. 

Council  of  Trent  and  Music,  58. 

Counterpoint,  136. 

Couperin,  140. 

Cowen,  122. 

Creation^  The,  105. 

Croce,  68. 

Crotch,  157. 

Crout,  or  Rotte,  44. 

Cymbals,  Assyrian,  22,  23, 

D. 

Dafne,  60. 

Damnation  de  Faust,  164. 

Dante  Symphony,  175. 

Daphne,  85. 

Das  Liebesverboty  178, 

David,  19,  20. 

David  (F.C.),  122. 

Deborah,  19. 

Denner,  151. 

Der  Freischiitx,  124. 

Devil  on  Two  Sticks,  104, 


Dido  and  ^neas,  155. 

Die  Feen,  178. 

Die  Fliegende  Hollander,  178, 181, 

182. 
Die  Jdeale  Symphony,  175. 
Die  Zauberjiote,  112. 
Don    Giovanni,  Overture    of,   87; 

Dramatic  power  of,  112. 
Donizetti,  168,  169. 
Don  Quixote,  155. 
Dowland,  78,  106. 
Drums,  Orchestral,  102. 
Due  Foscari,  169. 
Dufay,  52. 
Dunstable,  64. 
Dunstan,  36,  57. 
Dvorak,  122. 


Easter  Oratorio,  95. 

Edward  III,  140. 

Edwardes,  77. 

Egyptian  Music,  13. 

Fin  Feste  Burg,  97,  151, 

Flijah,  T30. 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  66,  78. 

Epaminondas,  25. 

Episode  de  la  Vie  (tun  Artiste, 

164. 
Ernani,  169. 
Esterhazy,  105. 
Euclid,  23. 

Euridice,  60,  74,  114. 
Euryanthe,  123,  124. 


Faidit,  49. 

Fairfax,  65. 

Fairy  Queen,  155. 

Falstaff,  169,  170,  181. 

Farrant,  66. 

Faust  Symphony,  175. 

Ferdinand  Cortez,  166. 

Ferretti,  77. 

Festa,  58,  62,  76. 

Fidelia,  113. 

Fierabras,  125. 

Flemish  School,  The,  52. 

Flotow,  162. 

Folk  Music,  44-51. 

Forkel,  35. 

Form,  in  Music,  133,  135. 

Fossembrone,  57. 

Fourteenth  Century  Music,  32,  53. 

Franco,  35,  37,  38,  39,  40,  48. 


INDEX 


187 


French  Chanson  (Thirteenth  Cen- 
tury), 49-50. 
Frescobaldi,  148. 


Gabrielli,  59,  61,  68,  148. 

Gasparini,  73. 

Gese,  93. 

Gibbons  (O.).  78,  82, 153. 

Gluck,  73,  161,  162,  166,  167,  171, 

178,  180. 
Goethe,  130. 
Goss,  157. 
Gossec,  115. 
Goudimel,  58. 
Gounod,  162. 
Graun,  63,  64,  86. 
Greek  Music,  23. 
Gregory,  32,  34,  39,  48. 
Gretry,  85. 
Guido  d'Arezzo,  31,  33,  37,  38,  39, 

47,  48. 
Guillauine  Telly  j6j,  168,  174. 

H. 

HALfiVY,   162,  163. 

Ham,  13. 

Hambois,  65. 

"Hamlet"  Symphony,  175. 

Handel,  86,  93,  97,  98,  104,  105,  106, 

110,   III,   113,  126,  127,  130,  131, 

140,  150,  154,  156. 
Harold  en  Italic,  164. 
Harps,  Egyptian,  14, 15, 17  ;  M^nes- 

tral,  65. 
Hasur,  19. 
Haydn,  97,  104,  107,  108,  no,  ni, 

114,   115,   n6,  118,  120,  126,   140, 

142,  144,  152,  172. 
Hebrew  Music,  18. 
Heman,  10,  20. 
Henry  VIII,  66,  83. 
Hermes,  11. 
Herodotus,  14. 
Hexachords,  26. 
Higden,  67. 
Hilgenfeldt,  93. 
Homer,  11,  23,  26. 
Hucbald,  31. 
Huguenots,  Les,  163. 
Hummel,  140. 
Hymn  of  Praise,  130. 

I. 

ItUmeneo,  i\i. 

I  Due  Illustri  Rivalt,  i68. 


//  Barbiere  di  Sevig-lia,  167. 

//  Giasone,  150. 

//  Trovatore,  169. 

In  Ecclesiis  Benedicte  Dominutn^ 
59. 

Instrumental  Music,  Mozart's, 
in;  Beethoven  and,  143. 

Intermezzi,  73. 

Invention  of  Music,  o;  Coeval  with 
Creation,  10  ;  the  "  Shell  "  story 
of,  II ;  Printing,  57  ;  Organ  Ped- 
al, 57- 

Iphigenta  in  Tauris,  161. 

I  Puritani,  169. 

Israel  in  Egypt,  loi. 

J. 

Jahn,  113. 

Jeduthun,  20. 

Jenkins,  106. 

Jephtha,  loi. 

John  the  Baptist,  St,  33. 

John  of  Fornsete,  43,  44. 

John  de  Muris,  41. 

Johti  Passion  Music,  95, 

Jomelli,  73,  no. 

Jonah,  70,  98. 

Jordan,  91. 

Joshua,  loi. 

Josquin  des  Pres,  52,  53,  54. 

Jubal,  10. 

Judas  MaccabauSy  101, 

Judith,  19. 

Julius  Caesar  28. 

Julius  II.,  56. 

K. 

Keiser,  63,  64,  93. 
King  Arthur,  155. 
Kinnor,  or  Cinnor,  18. 
Kirbye,  78. 


La  Cenerentola,  167. 
La  Favorita,  169. 
L^A/ricaine,  163. 
Lajuive,  163. 
Lamento  e  Trionjo,  175, 
Lampe,  151. 
L'Ani»ia  e  Corpo,  6i« 
La  Pastorale,  85. 
La  Sotinambula,  169. 
Lasos,  24. 
Lassus,  52,  56. 
La  Traviata,  169, 


i88 


THE   STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  MUSIC 


La  Vestale,  i66. 

Lawes,  153. 

Lecocq,  162. 

Lett-Motive,  Wagner's,  180. 

L' Enfance  du  Christ,  164. 

Le  Nozze  di  Figaro,  112. 

Leoncavallo,  171. 

Le  Prophete,  163. 

Les  Deux  Journies,  163. 

Lieder  ohne  JVorte,  129. 

Liszt,  122,  165,  172,  174. 

Locatelli,  109. 

Lock,  153. 

Loder,  log. 

Lohengrin^  123,  178,  180,  183. 

Lotti,  73. 

LuUy,  85,  86,  99,  115,  140. 

Luther,  63,  81,  93. 

M. 

Macbeth  Music,  153. 

Macfarren,  log,  122,  154,  160. 

Mackenzie,  log,  122. 

Madrigal,  58  ;  popularity  of,  74  ; 

periods  of  the,  75 ;  first  book  of 

the,  76  ;  "  Golden  Age  "  of,  77. 
Maid  of  the  Mill,  156. 
Marbecke,  66,  67,  80. 
Marcello,  109. 
Marchettus,  41. 
Marenzio,  75,  77. 
jMasaniello,  163. 
Mascagni,  171. 
Mass,  80. 

Mass  in  B  Minor ,  95, 
Massenet,  162. 
Matthew  Passion  Music,  94,  95, 97, 

152. 
May  Queen,  160. 
Mazarin,  85. 

Mazeppa  Symphony,  175. 
Med^e,  163. 
Mehul,  85. 

Meistersinger  ■von  NUrnberg,  178. 
Mendelssohn,  87,  105,  109,  113,  119, 

122,  128,  159,  173. 
Mensural  Music,  35. 
Mercadante,  168. 
Mercury,  10,  12. 
Messe  Solennelle,  167. 
Messiah,    101,    105,  in,   113,   130, 

156. 
Meyerbeer,  162,  163. 
Minstrelsy,  64. 
Minuet,  119;  Beethoven's  examples 

of  the,  iig. 
Miriam's  Battle  Song,  125. 


Monteverde,  69,  73,  84, 114,  149, 150, 

166. 
Morley,  78. 
Motet,  81. 

Mount  oj"  Olives,  113. 
Mozart,   87,  97,  108,   109,   lis,  118, 

121,    123,   126,   128,  131,  140,   142, 

143,  144,  151,  152,  172. 
Muns,  John  de,  41,  48. 
Musicians  Company  founded,  66. 

N. 

Nabzicbdonosor,  169. 
Naiads  Overture,  160. 
Neumes,  see  Pneumes. 
Newton,  90. 
Noah,  13. 
Norma,  169. 
Notation,  28. 


Oberon,  124. 

Oboe,  127. 

Ockenheim,  52,  53,  80. 

Odington,  40,  42,  48,  64. 

CEdipus,  155. 

Offenbach,  162. 

Olympie,  166. 

Olympus,  24. 

Onslow,  109. 

Opera,  Origin  of,  60 ;  and  Church 
Style,  84;  Earliest  English, 
French  and  German,  84 ;  Origin 
of  Comic,  86 ;  Handel  and,  99 ; 
Mozart  and,  109 ;  Early  Italian, 
III  ;  Landmark  in,  112;  Weber's 
influence  upon,  122 ;  Landmark 
in,  123-124 ;  in  England,  157 ; 
Gluck's  "  reformed,"  161 ;  "  Co- 
mique,"  163  ;  Meyerbeer's  im- 
provements in,  163  ;  Rossini's 
bearing  upon,  166 ;  Verdi's  influ- 
ence upon,  169 ;  Wagner's  re- 
forms, 178. 

Ophicleide,  108. 

Oratorio,  Origin  of,  60 ;  Improve- 
ments in,  70 ;  separated  from 
opera,  84  ;  Bach's,  88,  152  ;  Bee- 
thoven's, 113  ;  Bennett's,  160 ;  Ca- 
rissime's,  70 ;  Handel's,  100,  ni, 
151  ;  Haydn's,  105 ;  Mendels- 
sohn's, 130 ;  Wesley  s,  157 ;  Scar- 
latti's, 73. 

Orchestra,  First,  59 ;  in  Oratorio, 
61  ;  in  England,  66  ;  Extension  of, 
73  ;  in  Sixteenth  Century  Masses, 


INDEX 


189 


81 ;  Handel's  influence  upon,  gg ; 
Handel's,  iii  ;  First  Period  Sym- 
phony, 116:  Haydn's  '"First" 
Symphony,  120 ;  Growth  of  Or- 
chestration and,  144  ;  Gabrielli's, 
148  ;  Monteverde's,  14Q  ;  Scar- 
latti's, 150;  Handel's,  151 ;  Bach's, 
151  ;  Perfecter  of  French,  164. 

Or/eo,  6q,  73,  149,  150 ;  Gluck's, 
161. 

Organ,  Ancient,  36,  37,  56 ;  Bel- 
lows, German  of  Sixteenth  Cen- 
tury, 89  ;  Leipsic  University,  pi  ; 
pedals  invented,  57  ;  First  Writer 
of  Music  for  the,  146 ;  Handel's, 
158- 

Organum,  32. 

Orlando  di  Lasso,  69.  76. 

Orpheus,  10. 

Osiris,  13. 

Otello,  Rossini's,  167  ;  Verdi's,  169, 
170,  181. 

Overture,  LuUy  invents  the,  85  ; 
two  classes  of,  86  ;  Mozart's,  Che- 
rubini's,  Beethoven's  and  Weber's 
improvements  in  the,  87;  the 
Guillaujiie  Tell,  174. 

P. 

PaLESTRINA,  58,  70,  7i,,*084 

Parisina  Overture,  100. 

Parry,  Hubert,  log,  133. 

Parsi/al,  178,  183. 

Parsons,  65. 

Passion  Music,  64,  87,  93,  135,  152. 

Paul,  33. 

Paumann,  146. 

Pedals  invented,  Organ,  57. 

Pergolesi,  no. 

Peri,  60. 

Perosi,  171. 

Petrucci,  57. 

Philip  de  Neri,  61. 

Piccini,  162. 

Plain  Song,  57,  59,  80,  136. 

Plato,  14. 

Plutarch,  23. 

Pneumes,  29,  30. 

Polychronicon,  67. 

Polyphonic  Composition,  oldest,  43; 

advance  in,  72. 
Porporo,  73. 
Pope  Pius  IV.,  58. 
Preciosa,  124. 

Printing,  Invention  of  Music,  57. 
Prometheus  Symphony,  175. 
Prout,  12,2. 


Prydain,  28. 

Psaltery,  20 ;  Circular,  51. 
Psyche,  85,  153. 
Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  18. 
Pythagoras,  24,  67. 
Pytheas,  28. 

PURCELL,  84,  103, 109,  140,  141,  IJ3, 
156,  159. 


Raff,  i2«,  176. 

Rameses  II.,  14. 

Rameau,  85. 

Recitative,  Improvements  in,  72. 

Reformation  and  the  Church  Senr- 

ice,  66 ;    Effect  upon  Music,  79 ; 

English  Composers  and  the,  81  ; 

the  Organ  and,  83  ;  Regal,  148. 
Requievi  Mass,  Mozart's,  no. 
Bienzi,  178,  182. 
Rigoletto^  169. 

Ring  des  Nibelungen,  178,  183. 
Rinnucini,  60,  74,  114. 
Ritter,  50. 
Rodrigo,  g8._ 
Roman  Music,  27. 
Romeo  et  Juliette,  164. 
Rondo,  139. 
Rosamunde,  125. 
Rossini,  166,  170,  174. 
Rotte,  or  Crout,  44. 
RUbezahl,  123,  124. 
Rubinstein,  172,  175,  176. 
Ruth,  157. 


St  A  mbrose,  32. 

St  Cecilia,  176. 

.S"^  Elizabeth,  176. 

St  Paul,  130,  131. 

Solomon,  120. 

Samson,  101,  156. 

Saul,  100,  loi. 

Saxophone,  124. 

Scarlatti,  73,  85,  86,  99, 115, 140,  X50. 

Scherzo,  Beethoven  and  the,  119, 

144. 
Schluter,  123. 
Schubart,  90. 

Schubert,  109,  121,  122, 125,  172. 
Schumann,  87,  102,  109,   122,  i3It 

i59i  172,  177- 
Schutz,  63,  64,  93. 
Seasons,  The,  io6. 
Sebastiani,  93,  95. 
Se?niramide,  167. 


1 9© 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  MUSIC 


*'  Services,"  Origin  of,  8i. 

Shakespeare,  145. 

Shepherd,  65. 

Siiz'ana,  124. 

Solomon,  loi. 

Solomon,  20. 

Sonata,  The,  construction  of,  139, 
140. 

Sophocles,  130. 

Spinet,  73. 

Spobr,  108,  122. 

Spontini,  166. 

Squarcialupo,  57. 

Sta/>at  Mater,  167. 

Staff  and  Clefs,  34. 

Stamitz,  115. 

Stanford,  109,  122,  157. 

Strabo,  14. 

Stringed  Instruments,  Origin  of,  11. 

Suites,  139. 

Sullivan,  122,  157. 

"  Summer  is  icumen  in,"  42-43,  64. 

Sylvester,  32,  39. 

Symphony,  Growth  of  the,  114; 
Haydn's  Improvement  of  the,  116, 
142;  Construction  of  the,  116; 
the  "  Salomon  "  set,  120;  Human 
Voice  in  the,  121  ;  Notable  Ex- 
amples of,  121 ;  Liszt's,  175  ;  Men- 
delssohn's C  minor,  128. 

T. 

Tallis,  66,  82. 

Tamplin,  96. 

Tannhduser,  178,  180. 

Taverner,  65. 

Tempest,  Purcell's,  155. 

Tempest  music,  Ame's,  156, 

Terpander,  10,  24. 

Theodora,  loi. 

Thibaut,  48. 

Thirteenth    Century    Melody,  49 ; 

Counterpoint  of,  50. 
Thomas,  162. 

Thomas  de  Walsyngham,  36. 
Torelli,  115. 
Trevisa,  67. 


Tristan  und  Isolde,  178,  183. 
Triumphs  o/^  Oriana,  78. 
Trombone,  105. 
Troubadours,  48,  145. 
Trumpet,  118;  Slide,  122. 
Tschaikowsky,   114,   122,    i/a,  173, 

174,  177' 
Tye,  6s,  82. 
Tyrtaeus,  24. 

U. 
Un  Ballo  in  Maschero,  169. 


Valentini,  109. 

Vanhall,  115. 

Veracini,  109. 

Verdi,  85,  168,  169,  171,  181. 

Viola  da  Gamba,  Frontispiece, 

Virginal,  78,  80,  148,  149. 

Vitalianus,  32,  39. 

Vittoria,  68. 

W. 

Waelrant,  76. 

Wagner,  85,  112,  123,  163,  17T,  17a, 

I75i  ^76,  177- 
Wallace,  157. 

Walsyngham,  Thomas  de,  36. 
"  Walpurgisnacht,"  130. 
Weber,  87,  112,  122. 
Weelkes,  78. 
Wesley,  84,  156. 
Wilbye,  78. 
Willaert,  52,  56,  76. 
Wind  Instruments,  150. 
Wise,  153. 

IVohltemperirte  Clavier,  96a 
IVotnan  0/  Samaria,  160. 
Wood  Nymph  Overture,  160. 
Wulfstan,  57. 


Xenophon,  83. 


(4) 


THE   END 


i 


I 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


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